Insys Therapeutics Inc. is selling the fentanyl painkiller Subsys out of bankruptcy, unloading the opioid drug at the center of racketeering convictions against the drugmaker’s former top brass, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Subsys, a mouth-spray version of fentanyl, fueled the company’s success and helped turn co-founder John Kapoor into a billionaire. But management’s tactics in promoting sales of the drug sparked lawsuits and criminal investigations against Insys, pushing it into bankruptcy in June and wiping out investors. Insys said in a securities filing yesterday that Wyoming-based BtCP Pharma LLC, which makes the Lazanda fentanyl nasal spray, agreed to buy Subsys in exchange for royalty payments on future sales and the assumption of some liabilities. Insys didn’t put a total value on the deal. The royalty rate is 45 percent, with adjustments for the cost of goods sold, legal and settlement payments, and overhead. Insys would also receive post-closing payments for accounts receivable and certain inventory. If the deal is approved in bankruptcy court, the proceeds would generate cash for the company to divvy up among thousands of companies, people and state and local governments that have alleged they were harmed by the misuse of Subsys.
