Allergan Inc. announced that it has received a strong outpouring of support from its physician customers, their nurses and office staff members, as well as from patient advocacy groups and medical associations, following the company’s rejection of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.’s unsolicited proposal to acquire Allergan.
In more than 500 letters sent to Allergan, these physician customers, patient advocacy groups and medical associations express their appreciation for the company’s many contributions in the fields of research and development, product innovation, market creation, and physician support and services. In these letters, some of which have been posted to the www.allergan.com website, members of the healthcare community also share their encouragement for Allergan to remain an independent company and their concerns regarding Valeant, noting, among other things, that:
- Allergan leads the industry in terms of a commitment to research and development and to introducing innovative new products that address unmet patient needs.
- Allergan provides unparalleled support for its physician customers and their practices; including physician education and training, consumer education, and building new markets.
- The physician customers have grave concerns about Valeant’s proposal to reduce Allergan’s research and development expenditure by about $1 billion per year. This proposed reduction would have enormous impact on many areas such as future innovation in key medical specialties, patient care and treatment options, and the ability to conduct scientific research for future clinical development and post-approval product studies.
- The physician customers share a high regard for Allergan’s innovative products and customer support services and expressed their concern that Valeant’s proposal would result in the same degradation of quality that physicians have experienced with other assets acquired by Valeant.
“Allergan is extremely grateful for the hundreds of letters of support we have received from our customers during the past few weeks,” said David Pyott, Allergan’s chairman of the board and CEO. “For more than 60 years, Allergan has been successful because we have made it our priority to serve our customers and their patients by providing innovative new products, customer support and services, and training, as well as creating new markets and providing assistance with access and reimbursement. All of us at Allergan are deeply touched that our customers have taken the time to write to tell us that our work has mattered to them and their patients, and to publicly share their support and encouragement for our company’s business model and our promising future.”
As previously announced, the Allergan Board of Directors unanimously concluded that Valeant’s proposal substantially undervalues Allergan, creates significant risks and uncertainties for the stockholders of Allergan based on, among other things, the unsustainability of Valeant’s acquisition-based strategy, and is not in the best interests of the company and its stockholders.
Given the strength of its business, Allergan expects to increase earnings per share by 20 to 25% and continue to generate double digit revenue growth in 2015. Additionally, the company expects to produce double digit sales growth and produce earnings per share compounded annual growth of 20% over the next five years. The company believes this is achievable as a consequence of strong business momentum driven by a wide array of recent approvals and anticipated near term approvals, as well as an expectation that it is in a position to produce meaningful additional leverage and scale across both the SG&A and R&D categories without negatively impacting its commitment to deliver the highest quality outcomes to customers and their patients.
To access these physician customer letters of support, please visit the “Our Customers” section on the allergan.com homepage. Please note that certain personal identifying information has been redacted.
Date: May 20, 2014
Source: Allergan
Filed Under: Drug Discovery
