Titan Pharmaceuticals Inc (TTNP)

[Doctor Detroit]

Turks,

I really don't believe its a matter of catching on with patients. It's insurance coverage, prior authorization requirements etc. and price.

Alkermes didn't have to fight the insurance battle with Vivitrol: they were successful with Vivitrol in prisons and other government institutions by shady lobbying efforts and donations, and by selling the line that buprenorphine could be abused and was just "fighting a drug with a drug."

Braeburn came along and expected the market to imbrace them...but they were looking at the wrong market: patients and prescribers. The real market is the people paying for it: insurance companies.

In my opinion, the outcome will be determined by the fate of injectables. If Indivior (and Braeburn) can get injectables to have more favorable insurance coverage, then the same insurance coverage will apply to implants.

If not, then all of this was for nothing when it comes to opioid addiction in the US, although there still may be a small market in the EU and Canada where prices are subject to negotation with the government.