Cashing In on Opioid War: Alkermes and Its $1,300-a-Month Shot
- A 10-year-old drug gets second chance as epidemic spreads
- Obama pushing for $1.1 billion in funding from Congress
A heroin user injects himself on March 23, 2016, in New London, Connecticut.
Photographer: John Moore/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
A decade-old drug that was once seen as a commercial flop is getting a second chance to thrive as the fight against the opioid abuse epidemic shifts toward medical treatment in the U.S.
Alkermes Plc’s Vivitrol, a $1,300-a-month shot that helps kill the high from painkillers and heroin, is poised to get a sales boost after President Barack Obama’s recent push to give millions of Americans better access to addiction medicines through expanded Medicaid coverage and extra budget funding.