Pharmaceutical giants made billions of dollars from the opioid pandemic — and now, the healthcare industry is making billions solving it. With tens of thousands of Americans dying every year, some firms are turning hefty profits treating drug addictions. One of those companies is UK-listed Indivior, which has seen its stock soar nearly 400% in the past five years and is now transferring its listing to the US, where it derives 85% of its revenue from opioid, heroin, and marijuana addictions.

• In 2022, the US had the highest number of drug overdoses per 1M population — but overdoses fell last year for the first time since 2018 — a milestone in the fight against opioids, which accounted for 75% of overdose deaths.
• The company anticipates further growth due to the legalization of cannabis in the US, where the CDC estimates cannabis use disorder affects approximately 3 out of 10 people.

Life saver: Despite progress in offering treatment to people living with substance use disorder, drugs like Emergent BioSolutions’EBS

Narcan have become a front-line force in saving lives. Narcan is also bringing down the number of overdose deaths, prompting pharmacy giant WalgreensWBA

to launch its own generic, over-the-counter version of the drug — and the state of California is distributing its own generic version to lower prices and increase access.