OxyContin billionaire is now trying to get you off OxyContin

The man who made billions by selling the highly addictive drug OxyContin has received a patent to sell an opioid treatment.

Richard Sackler, the former chairman and president of the OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, is one of six inventors listed on a patent "for a new formulation of buprenorphine," Axios reported Friday. The invention is a variation of buprenorphine, a mild opiate that is often used as an OxyContin substitute and a common treatment for opioid addiction, the Financial Times reports. The patent was granted earlier this year.

The inventors could stand to make a lucrative profit from the drug due to the increased need for milder opioid alternatives as the country grapples with a devastating and deadly opioid epidemic. In 2017, British pharmaceuticals group Indivior earned more than $800 million from U.S. sales of buprenorphine, per FT.

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Purdue Pharma, owned by Sackler's family, is currently being sued by more than 1,000 jurisdictions for its involvement in the opioid crisis, Stat reports. The family has denied responsibility.