Consort Medical (CSRT) has entered a partnership with Opiant Pharmaceuticals, marking the second time it has signed a deal that uses the expertise of both its drug and device divisions. More significantly it is the group’s first dose of the opioid addiction market, where growth has accelerated amid the tragic increase in drug dependency in the US.
Under the terms of the partnership, Aesica and Bespak (Consort’s pharmaceutical manufacturing and device development divisions, respectively) will create a novel nasal delivery mechanism for Opiant’s drug overdose medicine, nalmefene, and manufacture the finished product once it gains regulatory approval. The new device is expected to enhance the efficacy of nalmefene, especially in those who have overdosed on fentanyl – a longer-acting, synthetic strand of the opioid family.
Never far from the front pages, opioid dependency in the US hit the headlines again this summer after the attorney general in Massachusetts filed a lawsuit alleging eight members of the high-powered Sackler family “oversaw and engaged in a deadly, deceptive scheme to sell opioids”. The Sacklers owned and ran Purdue Pharma, whose opioid-based painkiller OxyContin is widely considered the origin of the epidemic.
Efforts to clamp down on OxyContin’s prescriptions came too late. By the time regulators became involved in restricting access to opioid-based painkillers, huge proportions of the population were addicted. When OxyContin or other pharmaceutical painkillers weren’t available, addicts turned to stronger forms of opioids, including fentanyl. Unlicensed ‘pill mills’ opened up in a bid to profit from the demand and patients stockpiled the medicine either to feed their own addiction or service others'. By 2016 it was estimated that between 8 per cent and 12 per cent of all patients prescribed with opioid painkillers ended up developing an addiction, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, while opioid overdoses increased 30 per cent from July 2016 to September 2017 in 52 areas in 45 states.
Now, with global agencies pushing back against drug dependency, a new market has emerged: drug addiction treatment. In the past few years there has been significant investment in recovery centres, wider use of overdose reversing drugs (including nalmefene) and increasing support for new research on pain and addiction.
British group Indivior (INDV) was one of the first companies to exploit this market with its long-acting treatment Suboxone, which helps wean addicts off opioids. Between 2010 and 2013 (when Indivior was still owned by Reckitt Benckiser), revenues from the treatment rose from £737m to $1.2bn (£780m using conversion rates at the time), as the drug captured 67 per cent of the market.
But, unsurprisingly, Indivior is not the only company to have noticed the attractions of the addiction treatment industry. As Suboxone’s patents begin to expire, many generic drugmakers have attempted to launch cheaper versions of the top-selling medicine. Mylan has an approved competitor, while Alvogen has a drug in development which doesn’t infringe most of Suboxone’s unexpired patents. Dr Reddy’s drug was commercially available for one day before a US court delayed its launch. Even Richard Sackler recently gained approval for an opioid addiction treatment, which is a reformulation of buprenorphine (the generic name for Indivior’s Suboxone).
In a bid to expand its portfolio of drugs quickly, Indivior has also signed a partnership with fellow UK-listed company C4X (C4XD), which has a potential novel treatment ready to begin clinical trials. The biotech group – which develops new drug candidates based on the shape of the molecules – has received a $10m upfront payment from Indivior and could receive milestones of up to $284m. Given the importance of expanding its pipeline (all of Indivior’s sales currently come from Suboxone and the new version of the treatment, Sublocade), the new drug is expected to be progressed quickly through clinical trials.
