Opioid Makers, Distributors Fall Following WSJ Report on Federal Probe

By Maria Armental

Shares in several opioid makers and distributors fell Tuesday following a report in The Wall Street Journal that federal prosecutors were investigating whether companies had intentionally allowed opioid painkillers to flood communities.

At least six companies have said in regulatory filings that they received grand-jury subpoenas from the U.S. attorney's office in the Eastern District of New York: Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA, TEVA.TV), Mallinckrodt PLC (MNK), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AMRX), AmerisourceBergen Corp. (ABC) and McKesson Corp. (MCK).

People familiar with the matter said the subpoenas were in connection with the federal probe, the Journal reported.

In midday trading Tuesday, Teva fell 9%, to $9.75; McKesson fell 5%, to $145.48; Mallinckrodt fell 5%, to $3.42; AmerisourceBergen fell 4%, to $87.05; J&J fell 1.4%, to $135.26; and Amneal fell 12%, to $2.99.

A J&J spokesman said the company believes its policies and procedures to stop opioid medications from being used for non-medical purposes complied with the law.

Spokespeople for Teva, McKesson, AmerisourceBergen and Amneal didn't respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for Mallinckrodt declined to comment.

Write to Maria Armental at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 26, 2019 13:36 ET (18:36 GMT)

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