Financialnewsmedia.com News Commentary

PALM BEACH, Florida, March 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Opioid drugs are and have been a God-send for many patients whose severe, excruciating pain had no other drug or device to allow them to escape from its throes. But we all know that the other side of that coin has created a social hell of its own. That is the impetus for the ever increasing non-opioid pain, treatment and device markets efforts to find alternatives and effective replacements for opioids. The global opioid epidemic has escalated at an alarming rate, owing to which several countries have opted for other alternatives for the management of pain. In 2017, opioid crisis was declared as a national emergency indicating the impact of opioid addiction in the U.S. According to data from National Institute of Drug Abuse, an estimated 90 Americans die of opioid overdose every day.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the economic burden brought upon the country because of opioid misuse amounts to USD $78.5 billion every year. These costs include those incurred for healthcare expenditure, addiction treatment, loss of productivity, and criminal justice involvement. These facts are indicative of the growing need to curb this addiction. Thus, demand for other alternatives that are safe has increased, boosting market growth.  Active biotech and pharma companies in the markets this week include:  Q BioMed Inc. (OTCQB: QBIO), Clovis Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLVS), VBI Vaccines Inc. (NASDAQ: VBIV), OPKO Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPK), Mallinckrodt plc (NYSE: MNK).

The overall global market for pain management will grow from nearly $36.1 billion in 2017 to $52.0 billion by 2022, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.6% for the period of 2017-2022; b) The global market for non-opioid pain treatments should grow from $13.8 billion in 2019 to $31.8 billion by 2024 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.3% for the period of 2019-2024;and c) In 2018, the global non-opioid pain relief device market was estimated to be $3,674 million and it is expected to reach a value of $8,778.9 million by the end of 2029.

Q BioMed Inc. (OTCQB:QBIO) BREAKING NEWS: Q BioMed Treats its First Patient in Commercial Setting Following Product Launch - Q BioMed, a commercial stage biotech company,  announced today the first patient has been dosed in a commercial setting with its U.S. FDA approved non-opioid drug Strontium89 (Strontium Chloride Sr-89 Injection, USP) for patients with pain from metastatic bone cancer.

The Company completed its initial commercial production run and shipment in February and is pleased to have dosed the first of what it expects to be thousands of patients in the coming years. Due to the opioid crisis, clinicians and patients are looking for pain management alternatives. Strontium89, which can be administered every 3 months, was shown in numerous clinical trials to relieve pain in over 70% of patients who received the treatment.

"With an estimated 10 million people living with bone metastases, we expect that even a small penetration in this market will have dramatic effects on QBioMed's future. We believe this drug has a very important role to play as clinicians move toward proven non-opioid therapeutics for pain palliation for patients with painful bone metastases," stated Q BioMed CEO Denis Corin. Q BioMed plans to launch the drug in global markets, including Europe, in late 2020. To learn more please visit www.Strontium89.com. Read this entire release and more news for QBIO at: https://www.financialnewsmedia.com/news-qbio/   

Other recent developments in the biotech industry include: Clovis Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLVS) recently announced that Rubraca^® (rucaparib) is now available and reimbursed in Spain following the Spanish Interministerial Commission on Prices of Medicines and Health Products approval of rucaparib for reimbursement. Rucaparib is now available as an option for monotherapy maintenance treatment for adults with relapsed, platinum-sensitive high-grade epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer that has responded to platinum-based chemotherapy.³Rucaparib is indicated for eligible patients regardless of BRCA status, which means it can be prescribed for women who harbor a BRCA mutation or who are BRCA wild-type.

"Although surgery and treatment for ovarian cancer have greatly advanced in recent years, patients face a disease that is still unknown in many aspects," said Charo Hierro, President of ASACO, the association for those affected by ovarian and gynecological cancer. "The launch of new drugs like rucaparib always brings hope to eligible ovarian cancer patients."

VBI Vaccines Inc. (NASDAQ: VBIV), recently provided a corporate update, its outlook for 2020, and announced financial results for the fourth quarter and twelve months ended December 31, 2019.  "Over the last 18 months, VBI has transformed into a company committed to changing the landscape of hepatitis B (HBV) by improving prevention and working to develop a functional cure. HBV is a significant global public health issue with an increasing disease burden – by example, the acute HBV infection rate in the US increased by 20.7% in 2015, rising for the first time since 2006, with the sharpest increases occurring largely in states that have been impacted most by the ongoing opioid epidemicⁱ. More than that, HBV is often an asymptomatic virus – it is estimated that as many as 67% of people with chronic HBV in the US are unaware of their infection statusⁱⁱ. All of this underlines the importance of vaccination against HBV.

"Our trivalent hepatitis B vaccine, Sci-B-Vac®, has successfully completed the pivotal Phase 3 program, demonstrating its ability to safely and rapidly elicit robust immune responses, conferring seroprotection in adults, including those who have been harder to protect, namely older adults, diabetics, and obese individuals. We are now working with the FDA and other regulatory agencies to prepare for submissions of regulatory approval applications in the US, Europe, and Canada, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2020. We believe Sci-B-Vac has the potential to be an efficacious, safe, and cost-effective option for all adults seeking protection against HBV.

OPKO Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPK) BioReference Laboratories, Inc., an OPKO Health company, recently announced it will offer a test for the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), a contagious virus that causes respiratory infection and has shown evidence of human-to-human transmission. BioReference is expecting to receive specimens for testing, and begin to provide testing next week. With an extensive network of patient service centers and a national logistic network, BioReference will provide expanded access to a COVID-19 testing across the United States.

"COVID-19 testing is imperative in aiding front-line healthcare professionals and public health authorities to identify infected patients more quickly, limit the spread of infection and promote earlier diagnosis and treatment," said Jon R. Cohen, M.D., Executive Chairman of BioReference. "We want to specifically recognize how engaged and responsive HHS, the CDC and the FDA have been in helping us navigate quickly through the scientific and regulatory issues necessary to make testing available as soon as possible to the U.S. population."

Mallinckrodt plc (NYSE: MNK) recently announced publication of findings from a prospective, open-label pilot study to assess the efficacy and safety of Acthar^® Gel (repository corticotropin injection) in patients with immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) at high risk of chronic kidney disease progression. The study was published in Kidney International Reports, the journal of the International Society of Nephrology. IgAN, also known as Berger's disease, is a kidney disease that occurs when IgA deposits build up in the kidneys, causing inflammation that damages kidney tissues.

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