(Adds comment from defense lawyer and Indivior)
By Nate Raymond
June 30 (Reuters) - Shaun Thaxter, the former chief
executive of drugmaker Indivior Plc, pleaded guilty on
Tuesday to a criminal charge arising out of a U.S. Justice
Department investigation into the marketing of its opioid
addiction treatment Suboxone.
Thaxter pleaded guilty in federal court in Abingdon,
Virginia to a misdemeanor count of introducing misbranded drugs
into interstate commerce. The plea came a day after Indivior
said he was stepping down as CEO.
Prosecutors said Thaxter failed to prevent employees from
sharing misleading safety information about the drug with
Massachusetts' Medicaid program as it considered expanding
coverage for it.
Wick Sollers, his attorney, said Thaxter was "unaware of the
alleged misstatements when they were made." Thaxter faces up to
one year in prison when he is sentenced on Sept. 29 and has
agreed to pay $600,000 in fines and forfeitures.
The plea came after Indivior in April 2019 was indicted and
charged with engaging in an illegal scheme to boost
prescriptions of Suboxone in one of the few corporate
prosecutions related to the U.S. opioid addiction
epidemic.
Prosecutors alleged Indivior deceived doctors and healthcare
benefit programs into believing the film version of Suboxone,
which has an opioid component, was safer and less susceptible to
abuse than similar drugs.
The indictment said Indivior also used an internet and
telephone program touted as a resource for opioid addicts to
connect them to doctors it knew were prescribing Suboxone and
other opioids at high rates and in suspect circumstances.
Prosecutors said the scheme began before British consumer
goods company Reckitt Benckiser spun off Indivior.
Reckitt Benckiser last year agreed to pay $1.4 billion to
resolved related claims.
Slough, England-based Indivior denies wrongdoing and is
scheduled to face trial in September. Indivior on Tuesday said
it is working to "resolve outstanding investigations and
litigations as expeditiously as possible."
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston
Editing by Chris Reese and Marguerita Choy)
