Drugs firm crashes 47pc as it loses US court fight
More THAN £700m was wiped off the value of addiction treatment company Indivior after a court ruling left investors feeling down in the dumps.
Shares in the firm, which manufactures treatments for heroin and other opioid abuse, plunged 46.7pc, or 96.45p, to 109.95p as a US court allowed a competitor to sell a copycat drug.
The decision overturned an injunction from a lower court, which had banned the sale of the cheaper generic alternative to Indivior’s Suboxone Film created by Indian competitor Dr reddy’s Laboratories.
In a statement, Indivior said: ‘Indivior will continue to vigorously pursue ongoing infringement cases against Dr reddy’s to protect its Suboxone Sublingual Film patent portfolio.’
It said it would issue a statement on the implications for the company after it had interpreted the ruling.
When Indivior first announced that Dr reddy’s had begun selling its copycat product into the US market in June, its shares slumped by 27.1pc in one day.
Since then Indivior had been pursuing the Indian firm for stealing its intellectual property, and an injunction was originally granted on July 13.
But in the few weeks that Dr reddy’s was selling its product in the US, Indivior estimated that it lost between £9m and £14m in revenues. The firm already sells an injectable version of its opioid treatment, although health practitioners in the US have been slow to increase their use of this, and Perseris, an injection which treats schizophrenia.
But the full promotional launch of Perseris, scheduled for February 2019, was dependent on the Suboxone injunction being upheld. Having lost the court battle, the timing for the Perseris launch may be under threat.
on the FTSe 250, Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banking Group took yet another hit from mis-sold PPI. The lender revealed that in the year to September 30 it had shelled out an extra £352m in compensation for customers who had bought toxic payment protection insurance – more than wiping out its profits, which dragged it to a £164m loss.
The results took the shine off CYBG’s £1.7bn takeover of rival Virgin Money last month and sent investors running for the hills.
even a hike in the final dividend from 1p to 3.1p per share failed to calm nerves, and shares dropped 16.9pc, or 42p, to 206.4p.
Chief executive David Duffy nonetheless struck an upbeat tone, saying he hoped this would be the final PPI payout before a deadline for compensation claims next year.
The scandal has now cost CYBG £2.6bn, and stung the banking industry for £32.9bn so far. Britain’s blue-chip index, the
FTSE 100, continued its downwards slide, shedding 0.8pc, or 52.97 points, to end the day at 6947.92 points.
Back on the FTSe 250, Spectris, which creates tools used to test machines from Volkswagen cars to crisp-cookers, climbed 12.5pc, or 262p, to 2365p. Its like-for-like sales were up 8pc, and the firm said it was slashing costs.
But Aveva, which produces software to help architects, engineers and constructors create buildings, dipped 6pc, or 162p, to 2522p – even as its profit soared 54.3pc to £60.5m. Investors may have been nervous that the firm, which acquired Schneider electric last year, might not be able to sustain the growth.
on London’s junior stock market AIM, law firm Knights also saw its shares pushed down 6.7pc, or 14.5p, to 202.97p despite its chief executive David Beech saying the firm was making ‘excellent progress’ in expanding.