Lightlake, Adapt Pharma Partner On Intranasal Naloxone Opioid Overdose Reversal Treatment
By Cyndi Root
Lightlake Therapeutics and Adapt Pharma Operations have begun a partnership on Lightlake's intranasal naloxone opioid overdose reversal treatment. The companies announced the agreement in a press release, stating that Adapt has received a license to develop the treatment that Lightlake has been studying along with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in order to prevent opioid overdose deaths.
Naloxone is a currently approved medicine, administered by injection. Lightlake has been experimenting with a nasal spray, which may deliver the medicine to the bloodstream more quickly. Current data suggests that delivery time is at least as quick as administration by injection. Lightlake announced earlier in December that it had begun a trial of the nasal spray in conjunction with NIDA, the second trial with the agent in an optimized formulation and device. If the trial shows favorable outcomes, Lightlake intends to file a New Drug Application (NDA) with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Lightlake granted Adapt a global license to develop and commercialize the overdose reversal treatment. The deal is worth more than $55 million in development milestones, sales milestones, and double-digit royalties. Mr. Seamus Mulligan, Adapt Pharma's Chairman and CEO also commented on the venture, "The product is an important therapeutic and will have significant benefits for patients, first responder medical staff, and caregivers. We look forward to completing the late stage development and to commercially launching the product."
About Adapt Pharma
Adapt Pharma is a privately held pharmaceutical company founded in 2013 and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The company is formed from personnel at Azur Pharma, which merged with Jazz Pharmaceuticals in 2012. Adapt’s strategy is to acquire or license late-stage pharmaceuticals and approved products. The company states that it is seeking partners with assets from the mid-clinical development stage through the commercial stage. In May 2014, Adapt announced that it secured $95 million in a private placement of equity securities.