(Bloomberg) -- SpecGx, Par Pharmaceutical and Actavis produced and shipped the "vast majority" of the 76 billion opioid pills from 2006 to 2012, the Washington Post reported citing a DEA database that tracks pill manufacturing and recently unsealed documents from a lawsuit against drug companies.
SpecGx, now owned by Mallinckrodt; Par Pharmaceuticals, now owned by Endo Pharmaceuticals; and Teva's Actavis, declined to comment, the Washington Post reported.
Generics makers started production after Purdue Pharmaceuticals had their patent of OxyContin invalidated in 2004, according to the Post.
The federal government had requested Actavis cut oxycodone production as far back as seven years ago and was rebuffed, the Washington Post reported, citing the unsealed documents.
To contact the reporter on this story: Adam O. Manzor in New York at amanzor@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chakradhar Adusumilli at cadusumilli@bloomberg.net
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
