Valeant Pharmaceuticals

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. is a publicly traded multinational specialty drugs company based in Laval, Quebec, Canada. The company focuses on purchasing the rights to older generic drugs and raising prices, sometimes to hundreds or thousands of dollars per pill. Valeant's main drug markets include neurology, dermatology and infectious disease with several drugs in late-stage clinical trials and several currently on the market. In addition, Valeant has a portfolio of more than 500 products from its prior history as a group of specialty chemical and radiochemical research, development and supply companies with a history stretching back to the 1960s. Valeant's strategy of exponential price increases on lifesaving medicines has been described by Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger as "deeply immoral" and "similar to the worst abuses in for-profit education."

Valeant sells a wide range of drugs, including over-the counter medications and medical devices, as well as prescription drugs such as antidepressant Wellbutrin XL. Kinerase, which uses kinetin as active ingredient, is one of the most popular products of Valeant.