The pharmaceutical company allegedly shielded their branded drugs from generic competition and inflated their revenues using a fraudulent scheme.

T. Rowe Price also declined to comment.

The lawsuit points to Valeant’s alleged decisions to massively increase prices of so-called “orphan drugs” to treat rare medical conditions that face little or no competition and “back door” efforts to receive reimbursement from insurance companies.

“(The) defendant’s fraud was so vast in execution and so devastating to investors, patients, physicians, and insurers, that media and commentators have dubbed it the ‘Pharmaceutical Enron,’” the statement of claim said.

None of the allegations has been proven in court.

Valeant is also reportedly under a criminal fraud investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York over its activities with mail-order pharmacy Philidor Rx Services.

It faces other investigations in several states along with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which is looking at whether Salix, which was acquired by Valeant last year, misled investors about inventory levels.

The drugmaker’s shares, which rose early Thursday on an announced deal between the company and its lenders, fell on word of the lawsuit.

They closed at C$37.19, down 3.4 per cent in Thursday trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

A year ago, Valeant shares were worth more than C$300 each, prior to a series of problems that began to emerge last September.

Earlier in the day, Valeant said it was getting a much-needed break from its lenders, but at the cost of higher interest rates and additional one-time fees.

The company said it had received lender approvals that give Valeant more flexibility to borrow money and sell assets — part of the company’s plan to reduce its debt load in part by selling up to US$8 billion of assets.

Canaccord Genuity analyst Neil Maruoka wrote in a research note that the developments were positive news on balance “but we believe that the company must still divest assets and execute operationally to fully turn the ship around.”