Purdue Pharma

Not to be confused with Purdue Pharmacy.
Purdue Pharma L.P.
Company typePrivate (L.P.)
IndustryPharmaceuticals
FoundedNew York, New York, U.S.
1892; 132 years ago (1892)
FoundersJohn Purdue Gray
George Frederick Bingham
FateRestructuring as Knoa Pharma due to Chapter 11 bankruptcy and legal issues
Headquarters
Stamford, Connecticut
,
U.S.
Key people
Craig Landau (President & CEO)
Arthur Sackler
Mortimer Sackler
Raymond Sackler
Richard Sackler (President)
RevenueDecrease Bankruptcy (2023)
Number of employees
5,000 (worldwide)
SubsidiariesRhodes Pharma
Websitewww.purduepharma.com
Footnotes / references

Purdue Pharma L.P., formerly the Purdue Frederick Company (1892–2019), was an American privately held pharmaceutical company founded by John Purdue Gray. It was sold to Arthur, Mortimer, and Raymond Sackler in 1952, and then owned principally by the Sackler family and their descendants.[1][2]

The company manufactured pain medicines such as hydromorphone, fentanyl, codeine, hydrocodone and oxycodone, also known by its brand name, OxyContin. The Sacklers developed aggressive marketing tactics persuading doctors to prescribe OxyContin in particular. Doctors were enticed with free trips to pain-management seminars (which were effectively all-expenses-paid vacations) and paid speaking engagements. Sales of their drugs soared, as did the number of people dying from overdoses.[3] From 1999 to 2020, nearly 841,000 people died from drug overdoses in the United States, with prescription and illicit opioids responsible for 500,000 of those deaths.[4]

A series of lawsuits followed. In 2007, Purdue paid out one of the largest fines ever levied against a pharmaceutical firm for misleading the public about how addictive the drug OxyContin was compared to other pain medications.[5][6] In response to the lawsuits, the company shifted its focus to abuse-deterrent formulations, but continued to market and sell opioids as late as 2019 and continued to be involved in lawsuits around the opioid epidemic in the United States.[7][8]

Purdue filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on September 15, 2019, in New York City.[9][10] On October 21, 2020, it was reported that Purdue had reached a settlement potentially worth US$8.3 billion, admitting that it "knowingly and intentionally conspired and agreed with others to aid and abet" doctors dispensing medication "without a legitimate medical purpose." Members of the Sackler family will additionally pay US$225 million and the company will close.[11][12]

Some state attorneys general protested the plan.[13] In March 2021, the United States House of Representatives introduced a bill that would stop the bankruptcy judge in the case from granting members of the Sackler family legal immunity during the bankruptcy proceedings.[14] The House Judicial Committee referred it to the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law in October 2021.[15] The bill lapsed at the end of the 117th Congress in January 2023. In September 2021, Purdue Pharma announced that it would rebrand itself as Knoa Pharma.[16]

As of August, 2023, Purdue Pharma remains in chapter 11 bankruptcy, pending a Department of Justice appeal to the United States Supreme Court, of a 2nd U.S. Circuit Court Of Appeals ruling that the bankruptcy proceedings may continue.[17]

The company's downfall was the subject of the 2021 Hulu miniseries Dopesick, the 2023 Netflix series Painkiller, and several documentaries and books.

Purdue Pharma had no relation to Purdue University or the university's college of pharmacy, something Purdue University has made clear on multiple occasions to avoid association.[18]

  1. ^ Glazek, Christopher (2017-10-16). "The Secretive Family Making Billions From the Opioid Crisis". Esquire. Archived from the original on 2019-09-20. Retrieved 2019-09-21.
  2. ^ Keefe, Patrick Radden (2017-10-23). "The Family That Built an Empire of Pain". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Archived from the original on 2018-01-22. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  3. ^ Roberts, Sam (19 July 2017). "Opinion - Raymond Sackler, Psychopharmacology Pioneer and Philanthropist, Dies at 97". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 28 December 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Data Overview | CDC's Response to the Opioid Overdose Epidemic". CDC. 2021-10-15. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  5. ^ "Purdue Pharma, Execs to Pay $634.5 Million Fine in OxyContin Case". Associated Press. 2007-05-10. Archived from the original on 2019-08-21. Retrieved September 21, 2022 – via CNBC.
  6. ^ Van Zee, Art (February 2009). "The Promotion and Marketing of OxyContin: Commercial Triumph, Public Health Tragedy". American Journal of Public Health. 99 (2): 221–227. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2007.131714. ISSN 0090-0036. PMC 2622774. PMID 18799767.
  7. ^ Strickler, Laura (9 September 2019). "Opioid talks break down; Purdue owners balk at paying $4.5 billion". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2019-09-21. Retrieved September 21, 2022 – via NBC News.
  8. ^ "Purdue Pharma Reaches Tentative Deal To Settle Thousands Of Opioid Lawsuits". NPR. Archived from the original on 2019-09-21. Retrieved 2019-09-21.
  9. ^ "OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma files for bankruptcy protection". Reuters. 2019-09-17. Archived from the original on 2019-09-21. Retrieved 2019-09-21.
  10. ^ Hoffman, Jan; Walsh, Mary Williams (2019-09-15). "Purdue Pharma, Maker of OxyContin, Files for Bankruptcy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2019-09-21. Retrieved 2019-09-21.
  11. ^ "Opioid maker Purdue Pharma agrees $8bn US settlement". Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  12. ^ Chris Isidore (21 October 2020). "OxyContin maker to plead guilty to federal criminal charges, pay $8 billion, and will close the company". CNN. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  13. ^ "Advocates, some AGs wary of Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan". AP News. 2021-04-20. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  14. ^ Williams, Jordan (2021-03-19). "Democrats unveil bill to prevent members of the Sackler family from evading lawsuits through bankruptcy". The Hill. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  15. ^ "H.R.2096 - SACKLER Act". Congress.gov. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  16. ^ "Confirmed Plan of Reorganization Facilitates Creation of New Company – 'Knoa Pharma'". Purdue. 3 September 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
  17. ^ Knauth, Dietrich (2023-07-25). "Purdue Pharma bankruptcy can proceed despite potential US Supreme Court appeal". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  18. ^ Service, Purdue News. "Purdue University statement re: Purdue Pharma". www.purdue.edu. Archived from the original on 2019-09-21. Retrieved 2019-09-21.