Opiant Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPNT) and Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTNP) today announced a collaboration to explore development of a novel approach to the prevention of opioid relapse and overdose in individuals with opioid use disorder. The companies will conduct a feasibility assessment of a subcutaneous implant using Titan’s proprietary ProNeura™ sustained release technology to administer an opioid antagonist. A product that delivers non-fluctuating, therapeutic levels of an opioid antagonist, continuously for up to 6 months, may be ideally suited for the prevention of opioid relapse and overdose.

Relapse and fatal overdose among those with opioid use disorder is significantly higher than any other type of drug addiction. As many as 91 percent of those in recovery will experience a relapse. At least 59 percent of those who relapse do so within the first week of sobriety, while 80 percent relapse within a month after discharging from a treatment and detox program.i The risk of a fatal overdose is at its highest during a relapse.  Even returning to a low dose of opioids after a period of abstinence can result in an overdose for a long-term opioid user. ii

“Currently, the only FDA-approved opioid antagonist for relapse prevention is a monthly depot injection of naltrexone,” said Opiant CEO Roger Crystal, M.D. “A product with a six-month duration would allow patients to be opioid-free for a longer period, providing a greater window for long-term recovery, and most critically, relapse and overdose prevention. This six-month duration would mean that patients only have to make one good decision to initiate therapy, which is important because the longer patients receive pharmacological treatment, the less likely they are to relapse and possibly overdose.”

“We are pleased to collaborate with Opiant on this important project to evaluate the addition of an opioid antagonist implant to the armamentarium of products to treat opioid use disorder,” said Titan President and CEO Sunil Bhonsle. “Our knowledge from developing the FDA-approved Probuphine® (buprenorphine) implant for the maintenance treatment of opioid addiction, coupled with the drug development expertise at both companies, should enable us to complete this evaluation relatively rapidly and, hopefully, with a successful result.”

Opiant is committed to innovation and product development in the addiction space. The company is developing additional therapies for opioid use disorder, including advancing the pre-clinical development of its heroin vaccine candidate, which was licensed in October 2016 from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The company’s pipeline of nasal opioid antagonists also addresses both alcohol use and eating disorders. Opiant continues to maintain an active presence in national organizations such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Dr. Crystal was recently invited to testify before the President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis.

Titan continues to explore opportunities to expand the use of its ProNeura long-term, continuous drug delivery platform, and recently commenced a Phase 1/2 clinical study of a ropinirole implant for treating Parkinson’s disease. An implantable triiodothyronine (T3) product for the treatment of hypothyroidism is completing non-clinical development focused on formulation optimization. Titan is also collaborating with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and the Southwest Research Institute in the early non-clinical evaluation of the implant drug delivery platform in malaria prophylaxis. Additional ProNeura feasibility evaluations are ongoing in the area of chronic pain treatment with a peripherally acting Kappa opioid receptor agonist, and in the treatment of type 2 diabetes with currently approved peptides.

About Opiant PharmaceuticalsOpiant Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company developing pharmacological treatments for addictions. NIDA, a division of the NIH, describes these disorders as chronic relapsing brain diseases which burden society at both the individual and community levels. With its innovative opioid antagonist nasal delivery technology, Opiant is positioned to become a leader in these treatment markets. Its first product, NARCAN® Nasal Spray, is approved for marketing in the U.S. and Canada by the company’s partner, Adapt Pharma Operations Limited. For more information please visit: www.opiant.com.

About Titan PharmaceuticalsTitan Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:TTNP), based in South San Francisco, CA, is developing proprietary therapeutics primarily for the treatment of serious medical disorders. The company's lead product is Probuphine®, a novel and long-acting formulation of buprenorphine and the first and only commercialized treatment of opioid dependence approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to provide continuous, around-the-clock blood levels of buprenorphine for six months following a single procedure. Probuphine employs Titan's proprietary drug delivery system ProNeura™, which is capable of delivering sustained, consistent levels of medication for three months or longer. Titan has granted commercial rights in the U.S. and Canada for Probuphine to Braeburn Pharmaceuticals. The ProNeura technology has the potential to be used in developing products for treating other chronic conditions such as Parkinson's disease and hypothyroidism, where maintaining consistent, around-the-clock blood levels of medication may benefit the patient and improve medical outcomes. For more information about Titan, please visit www.titanpharm.com.

Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industry’s actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed, implied or inferred by these forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “expects,” “plans,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “projects,” “potential,” or “continue” or the negative of such terms and other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Actual events or results may differ materially. In evaluating these statements, you should specifically consider various factors. These and other factors may cause our actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement. We undertake no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release to conform those statements to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by applicable law.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Opiant Pharmaceuticals, Inc.                                  

Corporate Contact:                                                   Investor.relations@opiant.com                                  

Media Contact:Casey Myburgh                                                           Ketchum Public Relations                                          Casey.Myburgh@Ketchum.com                                202-835-8876

Investor Contact:Sam Martin                                                                 Argot Partners                                                 sam@argotpartners.com                                             212-600-1902

______________________i Smyth, B. P., Barry, J., Keenan, E. & Ducray, K. (2010). Lapse and relapse following inpatient treatment of opiate dependence. Irish Medical Journal. 103(6), 176–179.

ii http://www.alcoholismdrugabuseweekly.com/m-article-detail/even-a-low-dose-of-opioids-after-a-short-period-of-abstinence-can-result-in-overdose.aspx

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