Opioid maker Teva agrees to tentative $ 4.25 billion deal

The total includes $ 650 million that the company has already agreed to pay in resolving proceedings with Texas, Florida, West Virginia, etc.

Governments that have signed the deal can choose to receive medicines to combat overdose rather than cash, Teva said.

The National Plaintiffs’ Attorneys’ Committee, which represents thousands of cities and counties in opioid proceedings, calls the settlement an “important step” and provides help to those at the forefront of the epidemic. Over 100,000 Americans die from annual overdoseThe highest ever.

In a statement after the agreement was announced, the Commission encourages all these groups to sign this agreement and bring these resources into the hands of those in need as soon as possible. “.

The lawyer, who was involved in the negotiations with the pharmaceutical company, announced the news of the agreement. Connecticut Attorney General William Tong called this “an important breakthrough in our struggle to hold the entire addiction industry accountable,” and California Attorney General Rob Bonta said “to the victims.” We will provide the coveted relief. “

“Teva has launched opioids, exaggerated potential interests, deceived doctors and patients, and downplayed the risk of addiction,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in a statement. “Today’s settlement will put Teva paying for irresponsible behavior, sending money directly to the Pennsylvania community and being most affected by the opioid epidemic.”

Teva denied the charges filed during the proceedings and said it legally manufactured generic drugs and sold the branded fentanyl-based lozenges Actic and Fentra.

The company, which shared the news of the deal in its second-quarter earnings report, will offer $ 2.7 billion to $ 3.6 billion, CEO Kåre Schultz said. February.. Last year, Teva generated approximately $ 16 billion in worldwide sales.

The company said in a statement on Tuesday, “The agreement does not include toleration of fraud, but it is our best to keep these cases behind us and keep our focus on the patients we serve every day. It is in the interests of. “

The agreement still depends on several factors. The final terms may be resolved in writing “in the coming weeks”. Allergan, a generic drug maker acquired by Teva in 2016, also needs to be approved. And the majority of governments suing the company must agree to the deal after it is successful.

The agreement comes after a New York jury found in December the company responsible for the state’s opioid crisis. New York did not participate in the national agreement, and the company said it was still negotiating with the state and its community.

There are no remaining trials currently scheduled for Teva in 2022.

This transaction continues with several others with similar terms. The Three largest wholesalers — AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, McKesson — have agreed to a $ 21 billion nationwide settlement in addition to a $ 5 billion deal with pharmaceutical companies Johnson & Johnson. OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma We are pursuing a $ 10 billion bankruptcy plan to resolve the proceedings and become a public company. Mallinckrodt, a leading opioid makerMade a $ 1.6 billion transaction nationwide in bankruptcy courts.

The contract with Teva is, in an important way, the first. Other agreements that pharmaceutical companies have signed with states and communities usually do not include Native American tribes. Tribes usually reached a deal after the state. At the same time, the increase in deaths from drug overdose is disproportionately affecting indigenous peoples in the United States. (According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Native American tolls increased by 39% compared to a 22% increase in whites in 2020. report It was released on Friday. )

The tribe’s chief lawyer, Lloyd Miller, called their participation in the Teva Agreement a “game changer for future proceedings.”

“This reflects a fundamental change in the development of law towards greater equality between tribal governments and states,” Miller wrote in an email.