Opiant Pharmaceuticals Announces Final Tranche of NIDA Grant Award for its Investigational Treatment for Opioid Overdose

Rhea-AI Summary

Opiant Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OPNT) announces the receipt of $1.8 million as the final tranche of a $7.4 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) for the development of OPNT003, a nasal nalmefene intended for opioid overdose treatment. This funding comes amid rising overdose deaths, particularly from synthetic opioids like fentanyl. CEO Roger Crystal highlighted the grant's validation of their progress towards FDA submission for OPNT003, which they believe can significantly address the opioid crisis. Opiant's efforts are also backed by a contract with the Biological Advance Research and Development Agency.

Positive

• Secured final $1.8 million grant from NIDA for OPNT003 development.
• Total grant funding of approximately $7.4 million supports vital opioid overdose treatment.
• Potential for OPNT003 to contribute significantly to opioid overdose crisis solutions.

Negative

• None.

SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 31, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Opiant Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Opiant”) (NASDAQ: OPNT), a specialty pharmaceutical company developing medicines to treat addictions and drug overdose, has been awarded the third and final tranche of $1.8 million from the total grant of approximately $7.4 million from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (“NIDA”), part of the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”), to support the development of OPNT003, nasal nalmefene, for the treatment of opioid overdose. The grant was awarded under award number 5U01DA046093-03.

With the substantial increase in drug overdose deaths across the United States, primarily driven by rapid increases in overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids, including illicitly manufactured fentanyl¹, NIH leadership has highlighted the need for stronger, longer-acting formulations of antagonists to help prevent overdose deaths².

“The award of the final tranche of NIDA’s grant validates the progress we are making to develop OPNT003 for submission to the FDA,” said Roger Crystal, M.D., President and CEO, Opiant Pharmaceuticals. “If approved, we believe OPNT003 can make a meaningful contribution to the NIH strategy identifying scientific solutions and novel pharmacotherapies to save lives from opioid overdose, particularly in the face of more powerful and potentially dangerous synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl.”

The Company also announced that Dr. Crystal will participate in a panel presentation entitled, “Confronting the Opioid Crisis in the Age of Fentanyl and the Coronavirus Pandemic,” at the Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit taking place virtually April 5-9, 2021. The panel will take place on April 6 from 2-3 p.m., EST. Further details are available at: 
https://www.eventscribe.com/2021/RxSummit2021/agenda.asp?startdate=4/6/2021&enddate=4/6/2021&BCFO=&pfp=Browse%20by%20Day&tn=&cpf2=&cus2=&pta=

In addition to the grant from NIDA, the development of OPNT003 is supported by a contract with the Biological Advance Research and Development Agency.

About Opiant Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 
Opiant Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the company that developed NARCAN^® Nasal Spray, is building a leading franchise of new medicines to combat addictions and drug overdose. For more information, visit: www.opiant.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This 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, and among other things, our ability to maintain cash balances and successfully commercialize or partner our product candidates currently under development. 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. Additional factors that could materially affect actual results can be found in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 4, 2021, including under the caption titled "Risk 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.

References

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts. March 8 , 2021. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm.
2. Volkow, N., Collins, F. The Role of Science in Addressing the Opioid Crisis. N Engl J Med. 2017. 377:391-394

For Media and Investor Inquiries:
Ben Atkins, Opiant
(310) 598-5410
batkins@opiant.com

FAQ

What is the significance of the $1.8 million grant for OPNT003 from NIDA?

The $1.8 million grant is crucial for completing the funding of approximately $7.4 million for OPNT003, aiding its development for opioid overdose treatment.

When was the grant for OPNT003 awarded?

The grant was awarded on March 31, 2021.

What is OPNT003 being developed for?

OPNT003 is being developed for the treatment of opioid overdose.

What challenges does OPNT003 aim to address in the opioid crisis?

OPNT003 aims to address the increasing opioid overdose deaths caused by powerful synthetic opioids like fentanyl.

Who is the CEO of Opiant Pharmaceuticals?

Roger Crystal, M.D., is the President and CEO of Opiant Pharmaceuticals.