US: 35 states file antitrust suit over alleged Suboxone ‘product hopping’

Connecticut, 34 other states and the District of Columbia filed a federal lawsuit yesterday afternoon against the makers of Suboxone, a prescription drug used to treat opioid addiction, alleging that the companies engaged in an illegal scheme to block generic competitors from entering the market and cause purchasers to pay artificially high prices, Attorney General George Jepsen said.

Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals, Inc. — now known as Indivior PLC — and MonoSol Rx are accused of conspiring to switch Suboxone from a tablet version to a film, which dissolves in the mouth, in order to prevent or delay generic alternatives and maintain artificially inflated profits. The states allege that the companies’ behavior violates both state and federal laws.

“One of my highest priorities is determining if the dramatic increases in pharmaceutical prices over the last several years– for both brand and generic drugs – reflect violations of laws within my authority to enforce,” said Attorney General Jepsen. “In this case, we have a brand-name pharmaceutical manufacturer that sought to protect its profits by preventing lower-priced generic alternatives from entering the prescription drug market. The circumstances alleged in this case are particularly egregious in that, in the midst of an epidemic of opioid abuse and addiction, Connecticut consumers and taxpayers have had to pay more for a drug that may help to mitigate some of the problem.”

Full Content: West Hartford News

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