Pershing Square Activist Presentation Deck
Novartis: A Recent Case Study
Allegations
"As alleged, using the lure of kickbacks disguised as rebates, Novartis
co-opted the independence of certain pharmacists and turned them into
salespeople for one of its drugs."
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, April 23, 2013
► Novartis paid kickbacks to specialty pharmacies to induce them to
recommend Novartis medications and increase sales of Novartis drugs
► Novartis only contracted with pharmacies that represented that they
would be able to convert patients to Novartis drugs
► The pharmacies actively tried to switch patients from competitor drugs to
Novartis drugs, and the payments they received from Novartis depended
on the success of these "conversion" efforts
▸ One of the pharmacies gave biased advice to encourage the use of
Novartis drugs, and simultaneously understated serious, potentially life-
threatening, side effects, using talking points that were approved by
Novartis
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