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Indivior Share Prices Rise as Suboxone Film Sells Well

  • July 27, 2017
  • By Pete Nisbet
  • 0

Indivior share prices rose by over 13% on Thursday. Lower than expected research expenses and legal costs enabled the company to increase revenue forecast and improve its 2017 revenue forecasts. Its flagship product, Suboxone Film, is also selling well.

Indivior Share Prices

Indivior plc and Suboxone Film

Indivior plc is specialty pharmaceutical business based in the UK and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. It is an offshoot of Reckitt Benckiser that was disposed of in 2014 when its sales started slipping. The company specialized in opioid addiction treatments and initially had few competitors.

 

The decline began after US regulators approved the manufacture of such anti-addiction drugs by other firms. This gave rise to competition in the US for RB’s drug, Suboxone, particularly when its patent lapsed. After development work on an alternative to tablets, Indivior launched Suboxone Film, a soluble film form of the drug. The film is held beneath the tongue to accelerate absorption and has been selling well.

Indivior Share Prices Jump

Indivior share prices jumped after the company raised its 2017 revenue forecast from $1.05 billion – $1.08 billion to $1.09 billion – $1.12 billion. It also increased its expected net income by $65 billion: up 29.5% -32.5% over its previous $265 million – $285 million.

 

The company has also had legal costs to pay, with more to come. It was revealed in February that the firm had set aside $220 million for potential legal costs. That is $220 million of its $254 million profit in 2016. It gave warning last week that the $220 million set aside might not be enough.

Claims of Indivior Illegal Activity

The main issues involve the way Indivior handled competition. It is claimed to have breached antitrust laws in delaying access of generic competitors to the addiction treatment market. It is claimed by a number of states that practices used after the company’s exclusive patent expired were illegal. The US Department of Justice is also investigating the company for potential criminal activity in its promotional and marketing practices.

 

However, Indivior has been carrying out extensive development work on new products. It expects to be able to introduce one new product a year. These would include drugs to combat alcoholism, schizophrenia and cocaine overdose. Such research involves high costs, although not as high as originally estimated. In spite of all this and of its prospective legal costs, the company appears to be doing well. Indivior share prices certainly seem to reflect this.

About Pete Nisbet

Pete has been working in the field of website design and content for many years. He has a great interest in technology and current affairs, particularly business affairs. Pete's interests are technology, writing and world affairs and he is widely traveled. Pete also holds an Honors BSc from the University of Edinburgh.