Valeant Has 'Strong' Presence At AAD Meeting, Analyst Says

Jefferies’ David Steinberg maintained a Buy rating for Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE: VRX), with a price target of $106, after attending the AAD conference.

“Valeant once again maintained a very strong presence at the AAD this year, securing one of the 4 largest booths in our assessment as well as some of the prime marketing real estate (e.g., escalator ads for Jublia & Onexton),” analyst David Steinberg wrote.

Despite Valeant not having any new launches as compared to a steady stream of approvals in FY14, foot traffic at the booth was steady.

Physician Sentiment Mixed, Reps Optimistic

“Reps we spoke with indicated that for the most part physicians hadn’t changed their behavior or perception of the co, but sentiment admittedly “runs the gamut” and some doctors have been “beating us up” more as of late,” Steinberg mentioned. He added, however, that salespeople were generally optimistic about Valeant’s prospects.

Since September 2015, when the controversies surrounding Valeant began, there had been concerns surrounding employees departing after all the negative headlines and the resulting steep downturn in the company’s shares.

“With that in mind, based on comments from several reps, it appears that Valeant’s sales and marketing organization has been “remarkably resilient” and turnover has been “very low” – echoing the sentiments of executive mgt,” the Jefferies report noted.

“Internally, reps indicated that the co just completed the “best sales meeting” in the co's history and employees are keenly aware that execution and driving results will be the best way to improve the co's perception,” Steinberg added.