The FDA this week approved the first generic version of Indivior‘s (LON:INDV) billion-dollar opioid addiction treatment, Suboxone. The generic buprenorphine and naloxone sublingual film, sold by Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (NYSE:RDY) and Mylan (NSDQ:MYL), is designed to suppress withdrawal symptoms that crop in people addicted to opioids, as well as block the neurochemical effects of opioids. “The FDA […]
Pain Management
AcelRx tackles acute pain with sublingual drug-delivery tech
While pain medicine specialist Dr. Pamela Palmer was working on the West Coast in the early 2000’s, she noticed something peculiar was happening to patients undergoing surgery – many who survived their procedures were dying of opioid overdoses as a result of patient-controlled drug pumps. “The nurse has to program a number of parameters into […]
Titan, Braeburn end commercialization deal for Probuphine drug-delivery implant
Titan Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ:TTNP) and Braeburn Pharmaceuticals said today that they plan to end a 2012 licensing agreement that gave Braeburn exclusive rights to commercialize Probuphine in the U.S. and Canada. Probuphine, which was developed using Titan’s ProNeura continuous drug-delivery tech, is an implant that can be placed in a patient’s upper arm in an outpatient office […]
Sollis lands $50m for extended-release pain-relief drug
Sollis Therapeutics closed a $50 million round to support a pivotal trial of its non-opioid pain-reliever, according to Ohio-based translator NeuroTechnology Innovations Translator. Deerfield Management led the funding round and was joined by NIT collaborators, including Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), Cardinal Health and Ohio State University. NIT founded Sollis Therapeutics last year to help facilitate the development and commercialization […]
Mylan acquires fast-acting, non-opioid painkiller
Mylan (NSDQ:MYL) acquired global development and marketing rights to a fast-acting, non-opioid pain relief drug formulated by Prayog Labs, the company announced today. The pharma giant is positioning the medication, Meloxicam, as a non-addictive treatment option for patients experiencing acute pain following dentistry procedures or following a surgery. Prayog Labs has finished initial development work on […]
Surgeon general issues rare advisory urging public to carry overdose reversal drug
For the first time in 13 years, the U.S. surgeon general has issued a public health advisory. The last notice, composed in 2005, centered around the risks of drinking during pregnancy. The one issued by surgeon general Jerome Adams today urges the public to carry naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal drug. “Naloxone is a safe antidote […]
NIH launches $1.1B initiative to accelerate treatment options for opioid addiction
At the 2018 National Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit today, National Institutes of Health director Dr. Francis Collins announced that the agency is launching the ‘Helping to End Addiction Long-term’ initiative. The NIH expects to spend nearly $1.1 billion in 2018 on research dedicated to expanding treatment options for people who are addicted to […]
Milestone Scientific wins Health Canada license for epidural drug-delivery system
Health Canada issued a medical device license to Milestone Scientific (NYSE:MLSS) this week for the company’s CompuFlo Epidural computer-controlled anesthesia system. The Livingston, N.J.-based company developed CompuFlo Epidural to use dynamic pressure sensing to help anesthesiologists correctly identify the epidural space and reduce complications in real-time. The system also has 510(k) clearance in the U.S. “Receiving […]
Q Biomed seeks FDA nod for new manufacturing facility
Q Biomed (OTC:QBIO) and Bio-Nucleonics, the company licensing Q Biomed’s strontium chloride injection, have asked the FDA to approval a new manufacturing facility for the drug. Strontium-89 is a non-opioid injectable designed to relieve pain in patients with metastatic bone disease. The drug is given in a single injection and takes two weeks to reach its […]
The company behind Narcan looks toward a treatment for fentanyl overdoses
Despite growing attention from lawmakers and doctors, the opioid crisis is not slowing up in the U.S. A new report published last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that emergency room visits for opioid overdoses jumped 30% in 45 states from 2016 to 2017. The problem has morphed over the years […]
