More on that Suboxone settlement

~ Jason Schwartz

I saw some questions about what it means. Here’s a little more context.

  • 2002 – Reckitt Benckiser introduced Suboxone.
  • 2010 – Suboxone’s patent is expiring and Reckitt Benckiser claimed that Suboxone pills present a safety hazard to children and should be pulled off the market while they introduce a new film version with a new patent.
  • 2014 – Reckitt Benckiser spins off Suboxone into a new company called Indivior.

Here’s some reporting on the implications of the settlement:

Reckitt’s settlement only covers allegations dating to the period before Indivior’s 2014 spinoff, Indivior said in a statement. Reckitt was not directly named in the feds’ criminal investigation, and prosecutors are still investigating Indivior’s own marketing of Suboxone. The company was indicted on criminal charges in April.

Fierce Pharma

So . . . that appears to be a wrap for Reckitt Benckiser.

Here’s the latest with Indivior:

The settlement partly clears the cloud of uncertainty over Indivior. The company sliced its 2019 sales forecast in half in May after the federal indictment and lower-than-expected uptake of its branded Suboxone Film. The company teamed up with Novartis’ generics unit Sandoz to roll out an authorized generic earlier this year.

However, Indivior reversed that revised guidance Thursday, announcing Suboxone’s “outperformance” in the second quarter. The company said its projected revenue on the year is now forecast between $670 million and $720 million—a 25% increase over the previous forecast—thanks to its success at preserving market share

Fierce Pharma

UPDATE: This ABC News article does a good job describing the allegations against Reckitt Benckiser.

Published by Jason Schwartz

I have been an addiction professional and social worker since 1994. I started blogging in 2005 as the Clinical Director at Dawn Farm. I no longer work at Dawn Farm and am now the Director of Behavioral Medicine at a community hospital, and a lecturer at Eastern Michigan University’s School of Social Work. Views expressed here are my own. Keep in mind that the field, the contexts in which the field operates, and my views have changed over time.