Opiant Pharmaceuticals Inks Deal With Sanofi to Develop Cannabinoid Overdose Treatment

   By Kimberly Chin

Opiant Pharmaceuticals Inc. (OPNT) has agreed to a licensing deal with Paris-based Sanofi SA (SAN.FR) to exclusively develop and commercialize a potential cannabinoid overdose treatment.

Opiant, the maker of opioid overdose drug Narcan, said Wednesday it will pay Sanofi an upfront fee of $500,000 for drinabant with further payments contingent upon the achievement of certain clinical, regulatory and sales benchmarks.

The specialty pharmaceutical company said it intends to develop drinabant, a cannabinoid CB-1 receptor antagonist, into an injectable drug which can be used in an emergency department setting.

Acute cannabinoid overdose is often linked to patients who ingest large quantities of tetrahydrocannabinol or synthetic cannabinoid edibles like K2 and Spice, which can be found in the form of brownies, cookies and candies.

The Santa Monica, Calif.-based company has estimated that acute cannabinoid overdose has resulted in more than one million emergency department visits in the U.S., citing data sampled from a national database and figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. Opiant said it expects the number to rise as more states legalize recreational marijuana.

Write to Kimberly Chin at kimberly.chin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 26, 2018 09:24 ET (14:24 GMT)

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