Shakeup at Alexion Pharmaceuticals hits stock price

Shares of Alexion Pharmaceuticals plunged Monday after it announced the sudden departure of its chief executive and chief financial officer amid an internal investigation of the pricing of a high-cost drug.

Alexion said it was nearing completion of an internal probe on its pricing of Soliris, which treats rare blood ailments, the annual cost of which is $440,000, according to some estimates.

Alexion said it had not uncovered evidence that would require it to restate financial results.

"The Company continues to assess these matters from an accounting, disclosure and internal controls perspective," Alexion said.

Credit Suisse said in a note it was "very surprised" by the management shakeup.

Shares stood at $111.33 in late-morning trading, down 15.7 percent.

Chief executive David Hallal resigned for "personal reasons," while chief financial officer Vikas Sinha left "to pursue other opportunities," the company said. Sinha had delivered a presentation at a Wall Street health conference only last Wednesday.

Alexion said it tapped former AstraZeneca chief executive David Brennan as interim chief executive, while it searches for a permanent leader.

The drugmaker named David Anderson, a former chief financial officer at Honeywell, as chief financial officer.

"With strong new leaders in place, we will continue to be relentlessly focused on serving patients and families with devastating and rare diseases," said Leonard Bell, chairman of the Alexion board.

In November, Alexion announced it would file its quarterly report late to the Securities and Exchange Commission due to an investigation into the pricing prompted by a former employee on Soliris.

The company hired outside counsel to determine "whether Company personnel have engaged in sales practices that were inconsistent with Company policies and procedures and the related disclosure and other considerations raised by such practices."

The company said Monday will file the quarterly report in January or earlier.

The shakeup at Alexion comes as drug pricing faces increasing scrutiny in the US due to runaway increases of key medicines. Shares of drug companies tumbled briefly last week after President-elect Donald Trump told Time magazine he intended to crack down on the industry.