The FDA Showing Valeant Some Love With Recent Drug Approvals

Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE: VRX)'s stock got a boost on Wednesday after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the company's RELISTOR Tablets for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation in adults with chronic non-cancer pain.

Valeant said in a press release that it will commence sales of the new drug in the United States during the third quarter of 2016.

Neil Maruoka of Canaccord Genuity commented in a research note on Wednesday that the FDA's approval of Relistor should be viewed as an "incremental positive" and a "small degree of vindication" for Valeant's R&D-lite model.

Related Link: Jim Cramer's Opinion On Anthem, Valeant And Chevron

CNBC's Jim Cramer had a different take of the drug approval.

During Cramer's daily "The Mad Dash" segment, he said that Valeant's CEO Joseph Papa "should be smiling" between the FDA's approval of Relistor and a separate FDA advisory committee's recommendation for the approval of Brodalumab for treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.

Cramer continued that these new drugs could give Valeant up to $1.5 billion in potential sales.

"You have negative news, negative news, negative news," Cramer said. "But you know what — if there is going to be a savior for Valeant — it is going to be new drugs."

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