Teva optimistic about reaching nationwide opioid settlement

(Reuters) — Teva Pharmaceutical Industries remains optimistic it could reach a nationwide settlement by the end of the year over lawsuits alleging it and other drug companies fueled the U.S. opioid epidemic, its CEO said Tuesday.

Israel-based Teva, the world's largest generic drug-maker, raised its legal provision for the opioid litigation by $1.1 billion in the first quarter to $2.6 billion.

“It's the result of a holistic assessment of what's the effect of (state) settlements we have done so far, (and) what's the most likely outcome based on our current negotiations,” CEO Kåre Schultz told a conference call of analysts after reporting as-expected first-quarter profit.

Mr. Schultz told Reuters in February Teva was bracing to pay as much as $3.6 billion in cash and medicines to settle thousands of lawsuits.

Teva in March settled with Florida and Rhode Island, with a bench trial in West Virginia this month and another in San Francisco slated for July. But Mr. Schultz is hoping for a nationwide settlement and to that end, there are ongoing negotiations.

“We're getting closer there,” Mr. Schultz said. “I'm slightly more optimistic on the time schedule now. And that's why I hope that we will see a nationalized settlement before the end of this year.”

Teva earned 55 cents per diluted share excluding one-time items in the January-March period, down from 63 cents a share a year earlier.