Teva nosedives in Tel Aviv after NY opioids verdict

Shares in Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd. (NYSE and TASE: TEVA) are down by over 5% on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange this morning, following a similar drop in New York last week. The trigger for the fall was a verdict by a jury in a New York state court that Teva Pharmaceuticals Ltd. US unit Teva Pharmaceuticals had fueled opium addiction in the state. Damages will be determined later.

Teva was left to face the jury’s verdict after the other defendants in the trial settled before or during it. The defendants that settled included distributors McKesson Corp, AmerisourceBergen Corp and Cardinal Health Inc, and pharmaceuticals companies Johnson & Johnson, Endo International Plc and AbbVie Inc.

In a statement issued in response to the verdict, Teva said: “In NY, the plaintiffs presented no evidence of medically unnecessary prescriptions, suspicious or diverted orders, no evidence of oversupply by the defendants – or any indication of what volumes were appropriate – and no causal relationship between Teva’s conduct including its marketing and any harm to the public in the state.

“Prior to deliberation, Teva sought a mistrial based on, among other issues, the state’s misrepresentation of the amount of opioids sold by Teva in NY by more than 500 times.

“Teva continues to focus on increasing access to essential medicines to patients, including opioid medications for approved indications. Most importantly, the Company continues to pursue a national settlement in the best interest of patients.”

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on January 2, 2022.

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