New Narcan Owner Sees Schools as Growth Area for Overdose Spray
New Narcan Owner Sees Schools as Growth Area for Overdose Spray
(Bloomberg) -- Emergent BioSolutions Inc. Chief Executive Officer Daniel J. Abdun-Nabi said he sees an untapped market in U.S. high schools and colleges for Narcan, the opioid-overdose nasal spray his company will market after its acquisition of Adapt Pharma Inc.
Narcan is available in 1,144 high schools across 31 states and 309 colleges and universities in 35 states, Abdun-Nabi said Wednesday in an interview. That’s a small percentage of the nation’s more than 24,000 public high schools and over 4,000 colleges and universities, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
“It’s a growth opportunity,” he said.
Emergent, which primarily provides patients and government agencies with medicines used to combat public health threats, on Tuesday announced it would acquire closely held Adapt for $735 million. The deal will bring in as much as $220 million next year in revenue, Emergent said.
Narcan is a user-friendly alternative to a syringe, the decades-old method of administering the drug naloxone. It is used primarily by law enforcement, first-responders and on school campuses. Adapt has often given away the drug for free or at a 40 percent discount for public agencies -- $75 for two doses.
Shares for Gaithersburg, Maryland-based Emergent were up 1.2 percent to $62.25 at 1:39 p.m. in New York on Wednesday. They’re up about 33 percent since Jan. 1.
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To contact the editors responsible for this story: Drew Armstrong at darmstrong17@bloomberg.net, Mark Schoifet
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