Andrew Left Challenges Mallinckrodt, Compares Acthar To The EpiPen

Shares of Mallinckrodt PLC MNK sold off Wednesday after Citron Research released a new thesis on the maligned pharmaceutical company.

The new report valued the stock at $20 and alleged the company "has committed fraud [emphasis omitted] by lying to the investing public about the company’s dependence on the Medicare system."

Left appeared on Bloomberg TV around 2:30 p.m. ET to discuss his thesis.

Left said, "I think this is one of the many frauds Mallinckrodt is committing on the drug, securities industries." At one point, he challenged the company to sue him.

Left said, "Acthar dwarfs EpiPen when it comes to medicare reimbursements" and no matter what the backlash was against the EpiPen, "at least it worked."

The EpiPen Controversy

Back in August, Mylan NV MYL received overwhelming criticism for increasing the price of its life-saving EpiPen product 400 percent while raising the Mylan CEO’s salary by 600 percent.

In a mid-day note, Mizuho's Irina Koffler defended Mallinckrodt, saying Citron is actually the one misleading investors. She explained, "While a significant number of Acthar-treated patients may be covered by Medicare/Medicaid, we think that the cost of the system is heavily rebated and inaccurately reflected in the dashboards."

Shares of Mallinckrodt traded recently at $61.41, down about 9.4 percent on the day.