Purdue's offer adds toits efforts to refashion the company as an advocate for fightingthe addiction crisis while fighting back court cases. (Photo:Shutterstock)

The company that created OxyContin is offering free doses of an opioid-abuse treatment as part of its offer toresolve more than 1,000 lawsuits accusing the drugmaker of helpingfuel the opioid crisis, according to people familiarwith the negotiations.

Purdue Pharma has repeatedly said it will give away doses of anew version of buprenorphine — which helps wean people addicted toopioids off the drugs — as part of any settlement, according tofour people familiar with the talks sponsored by state attorneysgeneral and a federal judge. They asked not to be cited by name asthe negotiations are confidential.

Related: The opioid crisis is now a fentanylcrisis

The new version of the drug is based on a patent that listsbillionaire physician and past Purdue president Richard Sackler asone of six inventors. Sackler's father co-founded Purdue. Aspokesman for the company declined to comment on the talks.

It's another sign that opioid makers and drug wholesalers arelooking for an exit from litigation over their alleged role in acrisis that kills more than 100 Americans daily that could resultin billions of dollars in penalties. Bloomberg News reported lastweek that Endo International Plc is seeking to resolve all lawsuitsover its Opana painkiller to cap its legal exposure and get out ofan industry-wide settlement.

“I'd have to say this is a pretty clever move,” said RichardAusness, a University of Kentucky law professor. “Over the last 20years, Purdue hasn't shown any real contrition or remorse, so I seethis offer of free step-down drugs as a savvy negotiating tactic tolimit what they have to pay in any settlement.”

Buprenorphine, first approved by the U.S. Food and DrugAdministration in 2002, has been shown to be effective for treatingopioid use disorders. It's available in tablet and film forms,although Sackler's patent references a wafer that could dissolvefaster. It's held by Rhodes Pharmaceuticals LP, a drugmaker alsoowned by the Sacklers.

A lawyer for Rhodes Pharmaceuticals said that if a drug isdeveloped it would not be for any profit.

Sackler's patent was first reported by the Financial Times.

Last week, the FDA signed off on another version ofBuprenorphine. Other approved forms of medication-assistedtreatment include methadone and naltrexone.

Purdue's offer adds to its efforts to refashion the company asan advocate for fighting the addiction crisis while fighting backcourt cases. It's also helped fund distribution of opioid-overdoseantidote naloxone, purchased ads in the press touting its efforts,and pledged $3.4 million to a nonprofit firm developing a cheaperversion of naloxone.

Purdue's pledge fits a pattern of its fellow defendants makingcharitable efforts that could build goodwill and facilitatesettlement talks. Wholesaler Cardinal Health Inc. has given atleast $3 million to about 70 organizations while McKesson Corp.seeded a stand-alone nonprofit dedicated to fighting theopioid-abuse crisis with $100 million.

Purdue's offer might provide treatment options desperatelysought by communities and states suing the company, but it's alsolikely a tactic to shave off their financial contribution to aglobal settlement and appeal to U.S. District Court Judge DanPolster, who is overseeing the litigation, said Alexandra Lahav, aUniversity of Connecticut School of Law professor.

“If this is part of settlement talks, then it's not just aboutgoodwill — it's really saying, 'I'm sweetening the deal,'” shesaid. “Whatever people are willing to agree to, they can do. Thequestion is, is the judge going to feel if the companies are doingenough in light of exposure?”

More than 49,000 people died from an opioid overdose last year,an increase of almost 7,000 from the previous year. The governmentsaccuse drugmakers and wholesalers of downplaying the health risksand overselling painkillers' benefits through marketing campaigns.Plaintiffs are seeking to recoup the societal costs of dealing withaddictions and overdoses as part of a settlement they hope would besimilar to the 1998 Big Tobacco accord that ultimately generated$246 billion.

Polster has urged the sides to reach a settlement that helpsaddress the roots of the opioid problem and not just move moneyaround. Purdue's offer appears to meet that on some level, Ausnesssaid. “This kind of free-drug offer is a tangible, non-monetarybenefit of a settlement,” he said.

Companies facing lawsuits regularly seek ways to influencepublic opinion. Researchers at Harvard Business School who studied20 years of lawsuits against public companies found that targetedlocal advertising increased by 23 percent after lawsuits werefiled, and that they increase the probability of a favorableoutcome.

The consolidated case is In Re: National Prescription OpiateLitigation, 17-md-2804, U.S. District Court, Northern District ofOhio (Cleveland).

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