CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey's office has announced that 41 states and Washington, D.C. have negotiated a nationwide $102.5 million settlement with Indivior Inc., the maker of Suboxone.
West Virginia will receive about $1.5 million from the settlement.
“Companies should not resort to improper means to control the market, all the while hurting consumers,” Morrisey said. “Competition is the driving force in a free market economy, and those who resort to improper means will be held accountable to the full extent of the law.”
Suboxone is a prescription medicine used to treat opioid addiction in adults.
In 2016, the bipartisan coalition of states filed a complaint against Indivior alleging the company used illegal tactics to switch the Suboxone market from tablets to oral film form (that dissolves under a patient’s tongue) while attempting to destroy the market for tablets to preserve its drug monopoly. In 2009, generic manufacturers were poised to begin selling their own pills.
The coalition argued the alleged unlawful conduct squelched the market for generic Suboxone tablets which were set to enter the market. This conduct allowed Indivior time to switch the market to its brand name film.
The agreement, which was submitted to the court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for approval, requires Indivior to pay the states $102.5 million. Indivior is also required to comply with negotiated injunctive terms that include disclosures to the states of all citizen petitions to the FDA, introduction of new products, or if there is a change in corporate control, which will help the states ensure that Indivior refrains from engaging in the same kind of conduct alleged in the complaint.
Morrisey joined in the Wisconsin–led lawsuit with Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
