Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) has announced that it has reached an agreement in principle with a group of attorneys general from North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas, as well as certain defendants, for a global US settlement framework.
However, "Bloomberg" reports that the deal has yet to be accepted by 2,500 municipalities suing the company, and it is unclear what happens if they refuse to accept it.
Teva said that the framework agreement is designed to provide a mechanism by which the company attempts to seek resolution of remaining potential and pending opioid claims by both the US states and political subdivisions. There are an estimated 3,200 cases in the US claiming that Teva and other companies allegedly fueled the opioid painkiller addiction crisis through aggressive marketing.
Under the terms of the agreement, Teva said that it would donate $23 billion of buprenorphine naloxone (sublingual tablets) (at wholesale acquisition cost) to treat "the majority of the currently estimated US patient need over the next 10 years." Buprenorphine naloxone, Teva says is the primary drug used to treat opioid addiction. Teva added that, "product donation will significantly contribute to the care and treatment of people suffering from addiction and assist impacted communities."
Teva said that it would also provide a cash payment of up to $250 million over 10 years.
This global settlement does not include the $25 million in buprenorphine naloxone and $20 million payment that Teva said that it agreed in a pre-trial settlement with two Ohio counties earlier yesterday. In May, Teva also agreed to pay the State of Oklahoma $85 million in a pre-trial opioid settlement.
Teva's share price rose 8.67% on Wall Street last night to $8.15, giving a market cap of $8.134 billion.
Teva's $23.25 billion global US opioid settlement would form nearly half of a larger settlement of $48 billion in cash and products together with pharmaceutical distribution companies Cardinal Health, McKesson, and AmersourceBergen.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on October 22, 2019
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