Valeant is soaring after Walgreens gave the company a huge vote of confidence

Shares of troubled pharmaceutical company Valeant are soaring Wednesday afternoon after retailer Walgreens gave the firm a vote of confidence.

Walgreens partnered with Valeant in December 2015 to sell their products in exchange for a 10% discount on dermatological and ophthalmological products.

During a conference call following Walgreens' quarterly earnings, Co-COO Alexander Gourlay said the pharmacy was happy with the deal.

"Yeah, we are satisfied and pleased with the performance in the dermatology business," said Gourlay.

"The volume is as we expected. And remember, this is - we are paid for the service we provide. We're not paid on the margin mix here at all. So we are satisfied. The relationship is good."

Additionally, Gourlay expressed confidence in Valeant's newly-appointed CEO Joseph Papa, who took over the company in April.

"We know Joe well in the past from Perrigo where the group had a very good relationship with Joe and Perrigo, and we're in constant dialog with Joe and the management team," Gourlay continued. "We do see their situation, and we're very willing to help them in a positive way."

Finally, Gourlay said that they anticipated the relationship to last for a long time.

"So it's early days, a 20-year contract, and from our point of view, we are pleased and we want to help our partner to be more successful in the market," he said.

Following the news, shares of Valeant headed northward. As of 2:40 p.m., Valeant was up $2.68 a share, just over 13%, at $22.63.

This comes as welcome news for Valeant after a disastrous year that included completely re-doing the past two years of financial statements, a Congressional inquiry, the firing of multiple executives, and a stock drop of 90%.