Opiant Pharmaceuticals and Titan Pharmaceuticals Collaborate to Explore a New Approach to Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
October 02 2017 - 07:00AM
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
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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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