As a bellwether case for opioid litigation, the Aug. 26 decision from an Oklahoma judge demanding Johnson & Johnson pay $572 million to the state — down from a possible $17.5 billion — had investors in the pharmaceutical industry breathing a sigh of relief.
Companies that have been sued over the marketing of their opioid painkillers, allegedly contributing to the addiction epidemic in the U.S., face a series of trials that began in Oklahoma and head next to Ohio, where in October more than 1,500 suits will be decided by one federal judge.
Even though the amount J&J must pay Oklahoma — pending an appeal — is greater than most of the settlements drugmakers have reached so far, it eased investors' concerns that upcoming rulings might result in hefty judgments.
Shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Endo International PLC and Allergan PLC, all companies that have been tied up in the litigation, spiked immediately following the Oklahoma judge's decision after normal U.S. trading hours.
"This decision will be rocket fuel for the bellwether federal opioid trials set to begin this October," Jason Parish, an attorney with Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, told S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Story: J&J's $572M fine in Oklahoma opioid case may signal lower risk for drugmakers
Chart of the week

Story: United Family Healthcare purchase a selective bet on China's private hospitals
Must read
Bristol-Myers/Celgene megadeal opened door for Amgen's $13.4B Otezla purchase
Amgen Inc. agreed to purchase Celgene Corp.'s psoriasis drug Otezla for $13.4 billion in cash, a deal CEO Bob Bradway said was a way to take advantage of the recent biopharma megadeal frenzy.
|
First In Human: AbbVie encourages risk-taking; man vs. mouse; 1st CRISPR trials
In the inaugural First in Human column, S&P Global Market Intelligence caught up with AbbVie Inc.'s chief scientific officer to discuss early-stage clinical trials. Also: Why mouse testing often does not translate to humans; and the first human CRISPR trials.
Civica Rx wants copycats to adopt its model for fixing US drug shortages
Civica Rx is hoping other organizations will adopt its disruptive model of trying to fix the drug shortage problem. The CEO said a proposal for government manufacturing from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is remarkably similar, but unnecessary.
CStone leads Hong Kong-listed biotech companies' CEO pay in 2018
Shanghai-based oncology-drug maker CStone Pharmaceuticals paid CEO Jiang Ningjun 141.25 million yuan in 2018, including a share-based payment of 134.39 million yuan. His pay was nearly 10 times what he received in 2017.
AbbVie drops R&D program for hard-to-treat lung cancer after drug trial failure
AbbVie ended the research and development of its experimental lung cancer therapy, Rova-T, after an interim analysis showed the drug did not extend survival in patients compared to placebo.
In other news
Medicare upgrades popular online tool to help seniors shop, compare plans
The new Medicare Plan Finder online tool is available on mobile. Source: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services |
The Trump administration overhauled the online tool for enrolling in the government's Medicare program for healthcare coverage, including for drug plans, making it more accessible for 21st-century devices, such as laptops, tablets and smartphones.
Sanofi, Regeneron win cholesterol drug patent dispute against Amgen
Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. said the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware has invalidated asserted patent claims by Amgen regarding a certain class of cholesterol drugs.
Trump's order to exit China thorny for drugmakers; president promotes J&J drug
Drugmakers could be crippled if President Donald Trump ever carries out his order for companies to exit China, and the president told Veterans Affairs to use a Johnson & Johnson drug to prevent suicide, despite it not being approved for that use.
US FDA addresses patient concerns amid global recall of heart medicines
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration cautioned patients that the added risk of cancer from taking valsartan medications that have been the subject of recent recalls does not outweigh the risk of stopping the regimen.
US FDA warns hep C drugs from AbbVie, Merck, Gilead led to rare liver failure
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned that AbbVie's Mavyret, Merck & Co. Inc.'s Zepatier and Gilead Sciences Inc.'s Vosevi — all hepatitis C treatments — led to rare cases of worsening liver function and liver failure.
Essential Healthcare is a weekly collection of critical developments across the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, healthcare provider, healthcare technology and medical equipment industries that draws on exclusive analysis and value-added content from the Healthcare News team at S&P Global Market Intelligence. Subscribe now to get Essential Healthcare delivered to your inbox every week.


