Drugs firm Indivior divests in China

Drugmaker Indivior is to divest its interest in the Sai Bo Song opioid addiction tablet in China in a deal worth up to 122.5 million US dollars (£93.6 million).

Indivior will offload its rights to Zhejiang Pukang Biotechnology as it looks to focus on its core Sublocade and Perseris products.

Chief executive Shaun Thaxter said: “This transaction helps us focus our resources on the highest return opportunities in the regions we know best, while ensuring patients in China have access to an important and transformational treatment.”

The terms of the agreement include a signing payment of 1.5 million US dollars, 3.5 million US dollars upon designation of the Sai Bo Song tablet as a Class II psychotropic drug by Chinese regulators, and 12.5 million US dollars when the deal closes.

Indivior may receive an additional 105 million US dollars based on technical assistance provided to Zhejiang Pukang and hitting sales targets during a ten-year period.

The company said it expects the deal to complete in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Indivior shares were trading up nearly 1% at 115.7p on Monday morning.

Separately, the FTSE 250 firm said it has entered into a deal with Alvogen Pine Brook that prohibits the latter from selling its generic buprenorphine and naloxone sublingual film products – which compete with Indivior’s opioid addiction treatment Suboxone – in the US.

Suboxone accounts for around 80% of Indivior’s revenue.

Indivior had been granted a temporary restraining order by the US District Court for the District of New Jersey against Alvogen on January 24. The order will remain in place until February 7, when a preliminary injunction hearing will take place.