Indivior shares soar on $100 million buyback, opioid addiction drug sales rise

By Shanima A and Radhika Anilkumar

(Reuters) -Specialty pharmaceutical company Indivior launched a $100 million share buyback on Thursday after logging a higher profit in the second quarter, helped by strong demand for its opioid addiction treatment, boosting its shares as much as 22%.

The London-listed company, which recently shifted its primary listing to the United States, said revenue for the opioid addiction treatment Sublocade rose 24% in the second quarter to $192 million.

Earlier this month, the company cut its full-year net revenue forecast for the treatment. Indivior faces intense competition from the launch of a rival drug Brixadi by Swedish drugmaker Camurus, while the end of pandemic-relief measures has led to loss of coverage in the United States for some people enrolled in government-backed Medicaid plans.

Sublocade contributed to more than half of Indivior's revenue last year.

The underlying demand for Sublocade for moderate-to-severe opioid use disorder remains strong in a market that continues to be heavily under-treated, CEO Mark Crossley said.

"We are seeing four out of five new patients choosing Sublocade, so a significant patient choice as new patients are coming into treatment," Crossley told analysts during a call.

He said that the company expected that issues affecting Sublocade's sales to ease moving forward.

London-listed shares in the company, which was the top gainer on the pan-European STOXX 600 index, were up almost 17.4% at 972 pence at 1400 GMT. The U.S.-listed shares were up 16%.

Indivior's adjusted operating profit rose 11% to $79 million for three months ended June 30.

The company reaffirmed its full-year adjusted operating profit forecast of between $285 million and $320 million.

(Reporting by Shanima A and Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman, Eileen Soreng and Tomasz Janowski)