US court allows Dr. Reddys to sell generic Suboxone film

Pharma major Dr. Reddy’s Labs won a legal battle against Indivior, a British drugmaker, in the US as the US Chief Justice allowed the company to resume selling the generic version of Suboxone Film which is Indiviors' opioid addiction treatment drug.

Indivior insisted that the Indian drugmaker should wait to see if the high court considers whether to hear an appeal in the case. Indivior is also making strong efforts to overturn a ruling which states that Dr. Reddy’s generic does not infringe a related patent on the treatment.

Dr. Reddy’s had booked sales of around US$10 million after its launch in July when it was stayed by the court. In November 2018, Indivior claimed that it lost around US$12 million during this brief period.

The Suboxone Film is ingested by placing it inside the cheek or under the tongue and is used to treat addiction to opioids including prescription painkillers and heroin. This generic is expected to yield Dr. Reddy’s sales of US$50 million. Suboxone sales in the US stood at US$786 billion for the first nine months of 2018.

On Wednesday, Dr. Reddy’s Labs was trading at Rs. 2,520.20 per share, down 0.61 per cent on the BSE.