Valeant Pharmaceuticals International has formed a new patient access and pricing committee that will be responsible for the pricing of the company's drugs. The committee will be chaired initially by Joseph Papa, chairman and chief executive officer of Valeant, and will include a multi-disciplinary team of Valeant employees, including doctors, scientists and other executives.

The company's board of directors will oversee the patient access and pricing committee. The company has recently added new members to its board and announced the nomination of additional board members who together bring significant experience in physician and patient access, legal and regulatory affairs and the pharmaceutical industry. Among other issues, the committee will review the pricing of Nitropress, Isuprel, Cuprimine and Syprine.

"Valeant has made mistakes in how it priced its drugs in the past, and we are committed to ensuring those mistakes are not repeated," said Joseph Papa, chairman and chief executive officer. "This new committee will take a disciplined approach to reviewing the company's pricing of drugs, and will consider the impact on patients, doctors and our healthcare industry partners. Valeant's number one priority is ensuring patients can access the medicines they need."

Since last week's hearing before the Senate Aging Committee, Valeant has reached out to hospitals to follow up on concerns raised that they had not received expected discounts on Nitropress and Isuprel. The company will continue to work with hospitals to ensure they have access to the two drugs.