Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Egalet Corp. will launch its abuse-deterrent opioid painkiller Arymo ER this month

Egalet Corp., the Wayne company that makes opioid prescription painkillers harder to tamper with to get a quick high, said Thursday it will launch its extended-release long-acting morphine tablet Arymo ER later this month.

The Food and Drug Administration in January approved the company's label claim that Arymo deters abuse by people trying to dissolve and inject it. Egalet on Thursday reported a loss of $21.4 million in the latest fourth quarter, and posted revenue of $6.1 million in the period. For the full year 2016, Egalet reported a loss of $90.6 million, or $3.70 a share. Revenue was $16.9 million.

Egalet is one of more than a dozen companies working on abuse-deterrent formulations of oxycodone, hydrocodone, and morphine. There is rising concern about opioid abuse and overprescribing of opioids by physicians.

The company acquired two other products in 2015 that are being sold to treat pain: Oxaydo, an immediate-release abuse-deterrent oxycodone, and Sprix nasal spray, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). Sprix sales grew 24 percent in the quarter and Oxaydo sales were up 56 percent compared to a year earlier. Egalet had cash and cash equivalents of $86.8 million as of Dec. 31.

"We remain bullish on Egalet," said analyst Louise Chen, with Guggenheim Partners, in a client note. "We expect several catalysts to move the share price higher in 2017, including the continued uptake of Oxaydo and Sprix," the launch of Arymo ER, and upcoming clinical data and potential partnerships for other investigational products in the company's pipeline, she wrote.

Company shares rose 8 cents, or 1.73 percent, to $4.70 in trading at midday.