BY EMILY LUNDBERG
Anaheim Hills — Anaheim Hills-based pharmaceutical company, Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc., appears to be making a recovery after a damaging report from the stock commentary website, Citron Research, was published last week.
The 24 page report, released on Feb. 27, alleged that Questcor’s flagship drug, Acthar, contains little to none of the main active ingredient, Corticotropin. Citron Research accused the company of mislabeling their product and raising a health risk from the lack of potency and other unknown factors associated with the drug, which is prescribed to patients with difficult to treat autoimmune and inflammatory disorders. Prior to the release of this report, Citron turned over their research findings to the FDA, urging them to investigate.
Shortly after the release of the report, Questcor’s chief operating officer, Steve Cartt, responded by telling Bloomberg’s First Word that Acthar is still not fully understood and that the drug still meets all FDA mandated specifications. The FDA is currently reviewing lab results to see if that is the case.
In a follow up to Cartt’s response, Citron published a statement saying they are “astonished” by what Cartt said and questioned both the legality and ethicality of Questcor’s lack of concrete knowledge about the drug they are currently selling for $28,000 a vial. To conclude the statement, they warned “cautious investing to all.”
Since the release of the report, Questcor’s stock (NASDAQ: QCOR) dropped 18.4% between Feb. 26 and Feb. 28, according to Yahoo Finance. In spite of this, some companies, including Mizuho Financials, have made statements in support of Questcor. The stock has since regained some of its momentum and has risen 6.83% since its fall on Feb. 28, although future trends remain uncertain while the company undergoes investigation from the FDA.
