Life Sciences
Turning the tide of a government investigation
A pharmaceutical company CEO inherited a company on the hit list: his predecessor was notorious in the industry for acquiring a rare disease pharmaceutical and thereafter increasing the sales price by an extraordinary percentage and had been convicted of fraud.
The new CEO was doing his best to implement business reforms, but the company nonetheless became the subject of a Senate investigation. He was subpoenaed and required to publicly testify. The company was at a tenuous juncture, and the investigation threatened to overwhelm them. When we were brought in, we:
- Worked with the company to develop an understanding of the business circumstances, including recent changes to business strategy, philosophy and approach, and crafted key talking points to be emphasized in communicating with all stakeholders
- Negotiated a reduced scope of document request and coordinated the production of documents
- Met with Congressional Committee staff and presented the case in writing, in person and in repeated telephone conversations
- Convinced the Committee to interview the successor CEO in lieu of testifying in public
As a result, the final Committee Report offered only limited and modestly favorable comments about our client while suggesting that it appeared to have changed its business practices.