20 May 2016 - In 2014, Concordia Healthcare bought Donnatal, a decades-old drug used to treat irritable bowel syndrome.

The $265 million deal was a windfall for a company backed by Paul Manning and his PBM Capital Group, a healthcare investment firm in Charlottesville, Va. Manning’s company received a $200 million cash payment financed with a loan from GE and $65.5 million of Concordia stock that represented a 15% stake in the company at the time.

A prescription for Donnatal in the U.S. sold for about $87 in 2010, but by the time Manning sold the drug to Concordia it sold for about $353, according to IMS Health data. After securing Donnatal, Concordia in June 2014 immediately doubled the price to $602, according to IMS Health data. Donnatal now sells for about $782 and it’s Concordia’s best-selling product, representing about 10% of sales. In total, the price of Donnatal has increased by 800% since 2010.

Concordia says the IMS Health data is slightly off. The company claims it increased the price of Donnatal by 100% after it purchased the drug in 2014 and bumped up the price another 11% at the start of 2015. Concordia says its U.S. medications tend to be priced in-line with the average of the therapeutic class and that there are typically external brand or generic alternatives for patients taking their products. Manning and PBM Capital Group did not respond to a request for comment.

For more details, go to: http://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2016/05/20/the-other-canadian-drug-company-that-has-pushed-up-drug-prices/#19054f2039f9