Following the announcement made by Reckitt Benckiser Group plc (RB) in July 2014 that it was pursuing a demerger of the RB Pharmaceuticals (RBP) business with a separate UK listing, RB announced the detailed proposed timetable for the demerger.

The new demerged RBP company, to be called Indivior PLC (Indivior), will be UK domiciled and admitted to the premium listing segment of the Official List and traded on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities. A RB General Meeting to approve the demerger will be held on December 11, 2014. If the Demerger proceeds, RB Shareholders who are registered on the RB share register at the demerger record date will receive one Indivior ordinary share for each RB ordinary share held. If the demerger proceeds, it is expected that Indivior shares will begin trading on December 23, 2014.

In a statement, RB said that the board of RB feels that the demerger is in the best interests of both RB and Indivior and will result in a stronger future for both RB and Indivior, with the boards of each company focused on developing their respective businesses into leaders in their specific sectors. In particular, the board of RB considers that the profile and potential risks and rewards of Indivior, as a specialty pharmaceuticals company, will be better understood as a stand-alone listed business. RB will continue its focus as a consumer health and hygiene company.

If the demerger proceeds as planned, Indivior PLC will be a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of
addiction and closely related mental health disorders. Indivior will be domiciled in the UK,  initially with a head office in Slough. For 2013, the RBP business posted net revenues of $1.2 billion and net income of $489 million. Eighty percent of net revenues were in the United States. RBP’s key product is Suboxone film, a treatment for opioid addiction, consisting of  buprenorphine hydrochloride and naloxone hydrochloride.

Indivior has a strong pipeline of products for the treatment of opioid addiction with  new formats designed to improve patient and physician outcomes and reduce abuse and diversion, including a monthly depot injection and a swallowable tablet. Indivior also has a pipeline of products in closely related areas, including treatments for opioid overdose, cocaine overdose and alcohol dependence, as well as a monthly depot treatment for schizophrenia.

Howard Pien has been appointed chairman of Indivior. Howard has a 30-year history in pharmaceuticals. His early executive career was in large pharmaceutical companies (Abbott and GlaxoSmithKline) and later in Chiron and Medarex. He is on the board of five
specialty pharma/life sciences companies, including as chairman of Vanda Inc.

Source: Reckitt Benckiser