Emergent BioSolutions (Gaithersburg, US) has purchased US and Canadian rights to Kloxxado, adding to its opioid overdose treatment portfolio, which includes Narcan. The growing US opioid epidemic (including synthetic fentanyl) and its treatments will provide future growth drivers for Emergent, said Joe Papa, president and CEO of Emergent, at this year’s J.P. Morgan 43rd Annual Healthcare Conference on 15 January.
Papa presented the company’s “turnaround plan” for 2025 at J.P. Morgan. “We are focused on first stabilising the company, then turning it around and ultimately transforming the company,” Papa told the conference. “It’s a multiyear process.”
Emergent BioSolutions had significant problems during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the company reportedly destroying almost 400 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines and allegedly concealing quality issues, according to a 2022 US government investigation. Emergent is now seeking to re-establish itself as a trusted public health threat drug developer and manufacturer, with treatments for opioid overdose, smallpox, mpox, cholera, and flu.
In terms of financial health, Emergent reported a 10% annual revenue increase to $849m between the third quarter (Q3) of 2023 and Q3 2024. Papa continued: “Net debt [has been] reduced by $200m. We are pleased by that, we did that through selling and divesting assets … we have reduced working capital by $100m by [the] third quarter of 2023 to make [the] business more efficient.” These divestments included the sale of Emergent’s Baltimore-Camden fill-finish plant to Bora Pharmaceuticals (Taipei, Taiwan) for $30m on 20 June 2024.
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