(Bloomberg) — Backed by a U.S. campaign to slow abuse of prescription painkillers, drugmakers are devising new forms of the medicines that don’t lead to misuse and new products that treat dependency in a bid to change the face of a $9.4 billion market.
Orexo AB is working on a drug that blocks opiate receptors in the nervous system, potentially lessening addict dependence. Nektar Therapeutics on June 19 announced positive study results on an experimental medicine designed to enter the brain slowly, reducing the euphoria that can lead to addiction. And in April, the U.S. barred copies of the original form of OxyContin after Purdue Pharma LP proved its crush-resistant version made the therapy less valuable to addicts on the street.
