Members of the Purdue Pharma family engulfed in the opiod crisis have sold their $38million Upper East Side townhouse and moved to Europe.

Mortimer Sackler, son of the late founder and a former board member of the OxyContin producer, and his wife Jacqueline have told friends they will be spending 'the winter term' at Gstaad, Switzerland.

Their move to the sumptuous Swiss ski village comes after flogging the five-story house on East 75th Street - just a skip away from Fifth Avenue - to billionaire hedge fund manager Israel Englander for an undisclosed fee.

In an email sent Wednesday, obtained by Page Six, Mortimer wrote to friends: 'Jackie and I are spending the winter term in Gstaad. We will also take the opportunity of being based here to travel in Europe.

Mortimer Sackler, son of the late founder and a former board member of the Oxycotin producer, and his wife Jacqueline have told friends they will be spending 'the winter term' at Gstaad, Switzerland (pictured: Mortimer Sackler and Jacqueline Sackler attend The Winter Dance 2006 Desert Oasis Sponsored by VERSACE at The American Museum of Natural History on February 16, 2006)

Their move to the sumptuous Swiss ski village comes after flogging the five-story house on on East 75th Street - just a skip away from Fifth Avenue - to billionaire hedge fund manager Israel Englander

'We would love to see you either in Gstaad, if you are here or nearby, or elsewhere in Europe (taking advantage of the ease of travel here vs ours in NYC).'

He continued: 'Do let us know what your plans are, and what you have been up to as we would love to catch up. Wishing you all the best for a Healthy and Happy 2020, Mortimer and Jacqueline.'

Mortimer and Jacqueline Sackler attend the Guggenheim International Gala at Rumsey Playfield Central Park in November 2006

The Sackler family's OxyContin-producing company, Purdue Pharma, is privately-owned and not listed on a stock exchange but has an estimated annual revenue of $3billion.

OxyContin, which Purdue heavily marketed, was first introduced in 1996.

Local authorities soon reported an epidemic of addiction and criminal behavior associated with the drug, as people crushed the tablets and snorted or injected them.

Overdoses involving prescription opioids like OxyContin have soared in the past 20 years.

Purdue introduced an abuse-deterrent form of the drug in 2010 while still continuing to aggressively market it to doctors.

There were 17,029 recorded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2017, a 395 per cent rise from 3,442 in 1999.

And the Sacklers' Purdue Pharma is facing around 2,600 lawsuits implicating its OxyContin in drug users' deaths.

It applied for bankruptcy status in September after approaching a settlement worth $12billion with local governments across the US.

The Sacklers' Purdue Pharma is facing around 2,600 lawsuits implicating its OxyContin in drug users' deaths