How Alkermes Transformed an Anti-Addiction Drug From a Bust to a Hit
September 28, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
DUBLIN – Concerns over increased addition to drugs and alcohol, especially in the wake of the opioid crisis, have been a boon to Ireland-based Alkermes , the manufacturer of the anti-addiction drug, Vivitrol.
Vivitrol is an extended-release formulation of naltrexone administered by intramuscular injection once a month. Naltrexone works to block opioid receptors in the brain. It blocks the effects of drugs like morphine, heroin, and other opioids. It was initially approved to treat alcohol dependence in 2006.
But, the drug had an expensive price tag of about $1,100 per month, Fortune reported. The problem for Alkermes though, came when the company licensed the drug to an outside company that had a sales staff of more than 250 people ready to push the medication to physicians. However, sales lagged and the drug reverted back to Alkermes, which then took over commercialization. In 2010 the drug was cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat patients addicted to opioids and to prevent those same patients from undergoing a relapse in their addition. However, Fortune noted that sales were still lagging for the company. It took a Massachusetts sheriff to enquire about using the drug for heroin addicts who frequently ran afoul of the law due to their drug use as a means of treatment over imprisonment. That request sparked a change in strategy for Alkermes. Richard Pops, the company’s chief executive officer, switch marketing tactics and focused on members of the justice system who preferred treatment programs in favor of incarceration—a strategy that led to 250 nationwide pilot programs, Fortune reported. The drug that once was a flop, now generates more than $200 million per year for Alkermes.
Opioid addiction has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. In the U.S. alone, there are an estimated 2.1 million people who abuse prescription opioid painkillers, such as Purdue Pharma’s OxyContin. There are also an estimate 500,000 to 1 million people addicted to heroin. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 78 Americans die daily from opioid overdoses.
Vivitrol is not the only drug on the market used to combat opioid addiction. British drugmaker Indivior’s Suboxone is also a popular treatment method. Indivior is currently under fire over allegations it attempted to block generic drugs from entering the market and challenging Suboxone.
While Vivitrol has made a turnaround as far as being a revenue generator for Alkermes, the company is still not profitable, Fortune said. The company took a hit earlier this year after reporting that two of its three clinical trials studying ALKS 5461 in depression failed to meet their primary endpoints.
In addition to tackling addiction and depression, Alkermes also develops drugs to treat multiple sclerosis and schizophrenia. Shares of Alkermes are currently trading $48.34. Shares of the stock have not truly recovered from the loss the company saw following the failure of the two ALKS 5461 trials.