Asia Tech Wire (Oct 17) -- Consulting firm McKinsey & Company is close to settling U.S. opioid investigations, according to Reuters.

Citing people familiar with the matter, Wednesday's report said McKinsey was close to reaching an agreement with U.S. prosecutors, to pay more than $500 million to settle long-running federal investigations related to opioids.

U.S. prosecutors have accused McKinsey of helping opioid makers boost sales in the past, which allegedly led to a deadly addiction epidemic.

The agreement, which has not yet been finalized, will resolve criminal and civil investigations by the U.S. Justice Department, the people said.