|  Updated: 

Indivior shares soar as Suboxone posts slower market share decline

By:

Add as a preferred source on Google
BURLINGTON, VT - FEBRUARY 05: Tyler, 22, who recently got out of a rehab program for heroin addiction, shows his prescription for Suboxone, a maintenance treatment for opioid dependence, on February 5, 2014 in Burlington, Vermont. Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin recently devoted his entire State of the State speech to the scourge of heroin. Heroin and other opiates have begun to devastate many communities in the Northeast and Midwest leading to a surge in fatal overdoses in a number of states. As prescription painkillers, such as the synthetic opiate OxyContin, become increasingly expensive and regulated, more and more Americans are turning to heroin to fight pain or to get high. Heroin, which has experienced a surge in production in places such as Afghanistan and parts of Central America, has a relatively inexpensive street price and provides a more powerful affect on the user. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Indivior soared on the markets this morning as it raised full-year guidance after its Suboxone lost less market share than was expected.

Shares had jumped nearly 40 per cent by around 9am, as the company raised net revenue guidance to between $670m (£495m) and $720m. It had previously forecast revenues of $525m to $575m. They later gave back some gains, trading up 15 per cent by around 3.30pm.

Read more: Reckitt Benckiser agrees $1.4bn settlement in US opioid case

Meanwhile, net income is expected to hit between $80m and $130m, up from earlier predictions that income would fall between a loss of $40m and a profit of $10m.

“We are raising our FY 2019 guidance after a stronger than expected first half, in which the group executed well against its strategic priorities,” said chief executive Shaun Thaxter.

“Our financial performance and strong cash position largely reflect the slower-than-expected pace of erosion of Suboxone Film and the sustained leadership position of the authorised generic buprenorphine/naloxone film that is being marketed by Sandoz Inc.”

Indivior said it expects to hold cash of around $985m.

It came as former Indivior parent Reckitt Benckiser said it had settled for $1.4m with the US Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission.

The authorities claimed that Indivior had illegally boosted prescriptions for the Suboxone Film drug. The drug treats opioid addiction. Indivior’s shares dropped 70 per cent in April when the indictment was revealed.

Indivior had expected sales of Suboxone to fall much faster after the US Supreme Court allowed for cheaper, generic, versions of the drug to enter the market.

Read more: Indivior share price crashes 70 per cent after allegations of fraudulent drug marketing scheme

It said that Suboxone had stayed steadier than other drugs had in the past when facing generic competition.

The firm signalled already in May that the decline had been slower than expected.

Main image credit: Getty