Albuquerque, NM – New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced that 42 states, led by Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, have negotiated a nationwide $102.5 million settlement with the maker of Suboxone, Indivior Inc. New Mexico will receive about $930,000 from the settlement.
Suboxone and generic equivalents are widely used by clinics and state agencies to help rehabilitate individuals suffering from substance abuse disorder. However, in 2016 the States filed their complaint alleging that Indivior was seeking to disrupt generic competitors and monopolize the market by illegally switching Suboxone from tablets to film, while simultaneously trying to destroy the market for tablet medication.
The States argue that Indivior’s actions created a monopoly and were anti-competitive, driving out competitors’ generic equivalents to Suboxone, and allowed Indivior to control the price and limit access to this life-saving drug. Trial had been set for September 2023 before this settlement.
“We cannot allow one company to completely monopolize the price and distribution of a drug that is critical in our fight against the opioid crisis,” said AG Torrez. “My Office will stand ready to take on any company that puts their profits before the well-being of the consumers, in this case New Mexicans struggling with addiction. Thank you to the Wisconsin Attorney General for leading this effort.”
The agreement, which will be 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.
Wisconsin’s Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, Gwendolyn Lindsay Cooley, is the lead attorney for the forty-two States, including 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 York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
The settlement is below.
