Virginia State News

AG Miyares Announces $102.5 Million Settlement with Suboxone Maker for Alleged Illegal Monopoly Tactics

Virginia will receive more than $2 million from its share of settlement

Posted

RICHMOND, VA – Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares announced that 42 states have negotiated a nationwide $102.5 million settlement with the maker of Suboxone, Indivior Inc. Virginia will receive about $2,357,641.57 million from the settlement. 

“It is no secret that Virginia has been and continues to be hit hard from the opioid epidemic. My office has been relentless in holding big pharmaceutical companies accountable for their role. But it is not just companies producing opioids that are trying to benefit from Virginians’ suffering. Indivior attempted to monopolize suboxone – a drug used to treat opioid addiction – to continue to line their own pockets. It’s wrong, and I’m glad we were able to put a stop to it.” said Attorney General Miyares. 

In 2016 the States filed a complaint against Indivior Inc. alleging that they used illegal means to switch the Suboxone market from tablets to film (that dissolves in the mouth) while attempting to destroy the market for tablets, in order to preserve its drug monopoly. Trial had been set for September 2023. 

The agreement, which will be submitted to the United States District Court for 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.  

Virginia is joined by 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, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, Virginia, AG, Suboxone, Indivior, monopoly, opioids, tablets, film, pills, price fixing, settlement, law, states, Jason Miyares