Insurer to pay Assertio $5 million in opioid settlement

LAKE FOREST - Assertio Holdings Inc. said it has settled a claim with its insurer over opioid lawsuits brought against its subsidiary, Assertio Therapeutics Inc.

The company said Assertio Therapeutics entered into a confidential settlement agreement and mutual release with its primary product liability insurer, Navigators Specialty Insurance Co. and Navigators Insurance Co. Pursuant to the agreement, Navigators has agreed to pay $5 million of its $10 million primary policy to Assertio Therapeutics by Feb. 17.

"We are very pleased with this outcome," said Dan Peisert, president and chief executive officer of Assertio. "It is an important recovery for the company and does not affect our ability to pursue other sources of recovery, including the excess layers of our insurance."

The settlement agreement resolves the previously disclosed declaratory judgment action that Navigators filed in 2019, and Assertio Therapeutics' related counterclaims, stemming from a dispute as to whether the opioid lawsuits brought against Assertio Therapeutics beginning in May 2018 are covered under its life sciences liability policies with Navigators.