Dive Brief:
- Health insurer Centene is suing drugmaker Indivior, a company spun out of Reckitt Benckiser in 2014, for impeding less expensive generic versions of its Suboxone tablet from coming to market, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in federal court.
- The drugmaker's "profit protection scheme" led Centene and its health plans across the country to pay higher prices for the opioid addiction treatment when less expensive options should have been available, Centene alleges in the complaint.
- Centene claims the scheme to delay generics negatively impacted the prescription base for the tablets. It's seeking to recover the money it paid for the drug, plus damages and attorneys' fees. Indivior declined to comment.
Dive Insight:
The opioid epidemic has wreaked havoc on people and families across the country, claiming the lives of about 450,000 over a span of two decades, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The devastating toll has also forced the U.S. healthcare system to examine its role in the epidemic, particularly as a result of legal action.
Centene's lawsuit is not the first time Indivior has faced litigation related to its drug. In 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice secured a blockbuster settlement and guilty pleas from multiple executives, including Indivior's former CEO.
Suboxone was a profitable drug for the company and, as it neared losing exclusivity, the company allegedly developed a scheme to sustain profits.
Indivior developed a new formulation of Suboxone — a thin film placed under the tongue. The company then touted the film as harder to abuse and safer around children, though Centene alleges that is not true. Indivior successfully converted thousands to the film product and convinced state Medicaid programs to expand coverage to the film at a substantial cost to the states, according to the DOJ.
In 2012, the company submitted a petition to the FDA that said it discontinued the tablet "due to safety concerns." DOJ alleged it was just an attempt to maintain exclusivity and prevent generic versions from entering the tablet market as it switched patients to the film.
In July 2019, the DOJ secured a $1.4 billion settlement, the largest recovery in a case involving an opioid drug.