Although 2020 was a tough year for the biopharma industry — and most other industries as well — it appeared to rebound significantly in mid-2021. However, biotech stocks are generally getting hammered during 2022, although to be fair, the entire stock market is down.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries believes the company would have to pay around $2.6 billion in cash and medicine to settle thousands of lawsuits alleging the world’s largest generic firm and other drug manufacturers fueled the U.S. opioid epidemic.
Pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance and other defendants on April 26 said they were not to blame for the opioid crisis in San Francisco, and that they acted responsibly when providing legal medications to patients in pain.
Walgreens Boots Alliance and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. ignored the health risks when they created new markets for opioids, a lawyer for the city of San Francisco told a judge on April 25 during opening statements of the first trial to target manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies over the addictive pain medicines.
Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay $99 million to settle claims by West Virginia that it helped fuel an opioid addiction crisis in the state, removing the company from an ongoing trial that began earlier in April.
West Virginia’s attorney general on April 4 urged a judge to hold Johnson & Johnson, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., and AbbVie Inc.’s Allergen liable for causing a “tsunami” of opioid addiction in the state.
Florida reached more than $878 million in settlements with CVS Health Corp. and three drug companies to resolve claims and avert a trial in April over their roles in fueling an opioid epidemic in the third most populous U.S. state.
A federal judge in Delaware tossed out a lawsuit by Roche company Genentech accusing Novartis’ Sandoz division of patent infringement. In this case, the patent was related to Genentech’s Esbriet (pirfenidone), which is used to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and AbbVie will pay the state of Rhode Island a combined $28.5 million to settle opioid-related claims against the companies.
Rhode Island was set to square off on March 14 against Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., as a multibillion-dollar trial begins over whether the Israeli company contributed to an opioid crisis that has caused more than 500,000 deaths over the past two decades.
Reuters
Reuters
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