Synventa against opioid crisis 

Synventa is pursuing several approaches, all aimed to support the fight against the opioid crisis - by developing non-opioid analgesics, therapies against respiratory depression as well as treatments of opioid drug addiction.

Opioid crisis: Sense of urgency 

An estimated 10.3 million Americans aged 12 and older misused opioids in 2018, including 9.9 million prescription pain reliever abusers and 808,000 heroin users. 

During 2017, there were more than 70,200 overdose deaths in the United States and 47,600 of those overdose deaths involved opioids. More than 130 people died every day from opioid-related drug overdoses in 2016 and 2017, according to the US Department of Health & Human Services. 

To reverse the opioid crisis that continues to grip the nation, the National Institutes of Health has awarded $945 million in total fiscal year 2019 funding for grants, contracts and cooperative agreements across 41 states through the Helping to End Addiction Long-term Initiative (NIH HEAL Initiative). 

The NIH HEAL Initiative, is taking an “all hands on deck” approach to the opioid crisis, garnering expertise from almost every NIH Institute and Center to accelerate research and address the public health emergency from all angles. 

Chronic pain: Unmet medical and societal need 

Pain represents a necessary physiological function yet remains a significant pathological process in humans. Pain that does not have a clear cause, or that lasts longer than 1– 3 months after the initial injury heals, is considered chronic pain. In fact, chronic pain is a type of pain that can persist even in the absence of a causative illness or injury. 

Chronic pain is a common health problem, negatively affecting all age groups and demographics. Worldwide, chronic pain afflicts more than 1.5 billion individuals. A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2016 estimated that 1 in 5 adults—about 50 million Americans—reported living with pain every day or almost every day in the previous six months. The annual cost of chronic pain in the US in terms of health care costs and lost productivity ranges from $560 to $635 billion.

Our pipeline