Lightlake Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCQB: LLTP) is a specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in the development of pharmacological treatments for substance abuse, addiction and eating disorders. In December 2014, the company entered into a global licensing deal with a subsidiary of Adapt Pharma Limited to develop and commercialize Lightlake’s innovative intranasal naloxone opioid overdose reversal treatment, NARCAN® Nasal Spray. As per the terms of this deal, Lightlake could receive potential development and sales milestone payments totaling more than $55 million – including a $2 million milestone payment following FDA approval and a $2.5 million milestone payment following the first commercial sale of NARCAN in the U.S. – in addition to double-digit royalty fees.
In November 2015, NARCAN was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose. This approval marked the first time that naloxone –the trusted choice of healthcare providers to reverse the effects of opioid overdose for more than 40 years – was approved for distribution in the U.S. in a non-injection delivery method. Since its approval, momentum to increase access to naloxone has been on the rise. Late last year, President Obama included a call to make naloxone more readily available as part of a major initiative to address the nation’s opioid epidemic.
The commercial potential of NARCAN, to be marketed by Adapt, is expansive. In 2013, opioid overdose related deaths claimed nearly 24,500 lives in the U.S., accounting for roughly 52 percent of all drug overdose deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In total, prescription opioid abuse costs accounted for approximately $55.7 billion in 2007, with about 45 percent of all spending attributed to healthcare expenses.
In addition to its efforts to address the domestic opioid crisis, Lightlake has also completed a phase II clinical trial for its naloxone nasal spray to treat binge eating disorder (BED), a condition resulting in a lack of control when eating foods that are high in sugar, fat or salt. According to clinical data, the company’s nasal spray is well-suited to treating BED because it remains in the brain for two hours – the duration of a typical binge – without inducing negative side effects, such as a loss of interest in exercise, which are common with long-lasting opioid antagonists like naltrexone and nalmefene. Lightlake has also announced plans to conduct a Cocaine Use Disorder study in collaboration with the National Institute of Drug Abuse in the future.
With President Obama allocating $133 million toward the opioid epidemic in 2016 and guidelines from the Department of Health suggesting that naloxone could eventually become a standard script accompanying the more than 240 million opioid prescriptions written every year in the U.S., Lightlake, through its licensing deal with Adapt, is well positioned to record strong financial growth in the months to come. Look for the company to benefit from royalties stemming from this licensing agreement as it continues to advance its promising clinical pipeline targeting the treatment of BED and cocaine use disorder.
For more information, visit www.lightlaketherapeutics.com
