(Reuters) - Indivior expects the blow from the launch of a copycat of its opioid addiction treatment to be bigger than expected this year, the British drugmaker said on Wednesday as it posted a second straight drop in quarterly profit.
The company has faced a tumultuous few months with its shares down by a third since India's Dr.Reddy's Laboratories said it would launch a generic version of Indivior's blockbuster opioid addiction treatment Suboxone Film.
Indivior said the impact from the launch of the copycat "could be materially higher" than the $25 million hit on revenue it forecast earlier this month.
The company also said it was unable to issue new guidance due to "current uncertainties" after scrapping the forecast earlier this month due to a significant market share loss in the United States.
A U.S. court in July blocked Dr.Reddy's from selling its generic version of Suboxone. Indivior has been involved in a number of legal battles with generic drugmakers to stop copycats from flooding the market.
Indivior has pinned its hopes on its new drug, Sublocade, a once-monthly injection launched in February, but the company's plans have been hit with early stage snags.
It warned earlier this month that sales from the drug would be $50 million lower than its previous forecast.
However, Chief Executive Shaun Thaxter said on Wednesday he was confident about the company's $1 billion plus annual net revenue goal for Sublocade.
Adjusted net income fell 21.3 percent to $70 million in the quarter ended June 30 from a year earlier, while revenue fell 6.9 percent to $268 million in the quarter.
(Reporting by Justin George Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)