Indivior PLC (LON:INDV) shares soared on Monday as the drugmaker reached a US$600mln settlement with the US Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and various state attorneys general in exchange for a guilty plea to a felony charge as part of a lawsuit concerning its Suboxone anti-addiction treatment, designed to reduce withdrawal symptoms from opioid misuse.
On Friday afternoon, the company said under the deal it has pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement relating to health care matters in 2012, namely promoting Suboxone by claiming the drug was safer than others containing the active ingredient buprenorphine.
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Indivior said it will pay the settlement over seven years and has also agreed to a stipulated injunction with the FTC as well as entering a corporate integrity agreement with the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services through which its subsidiary, Indivior Solutions, will be excluded from government health programs.
"We are pleased to achieve this resolution and move forward in a way that provides certainty for our business in respect of this matter and allows us to continue focusing on our important work for patients suffering from opioid use disorder and mental health illnesses around the world", said Indivior chief executive Mark Crossley.
"The incident to which the agreement relates occurred well in the past and does not reflect the values Indivior has strived to demonstrate and uphold during our long history of partnering with healthcare providers, policymakers, and communities to fight the opioid crisis", he added.
Indivior’s settlement comes amid an ongoing legal battle faced by multiple pharmaceutical firms by state and local governments in the US as they grapple with a crisis that has seen millions of Americans become addicted to opioids.
Last year, Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (LON:RB), which spun out Indivior in 2014, agreed to pay around US$1.3bn to the US authorities in an effort to draw a line under the issue.
Shares in the Indivior surged 31.1% to 156.8p in early deals.