Lucemyra: An Underrated Opportunity for Valeant – Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (NYSE: VRX)

On June 26, 2018, Valeant (VRX) announced the conclusion of an exclusive co-promotion agreement with Lucemyra (lofexidine), the American Worldmeds. The first of its kind of treatment to help alleviate opioid withdrawal symptoms. The shares have failed to rally in the light of the announcement.

I firmly believe that the market does not give sufficient credit to important events that indicate a very important turnaround at Valeant. Lucemyra, for example, has a potential market of 90 million Americans – yet shares have barely budged. Investors should use recent weakness to buy Valeant shares as well as to position themselves ahead of potential catalysts such as the upcoming name change in July.

The co-promotion of Lucemyra marks another significant achievement in Valeant's reputation. its commitment to improving society through innovation and partnerships. It also highlights the significant growth and transformation that Valeant's wholly-owned division has achieved since Mark McKenna assumed the role of Senior Vice President and General Manager of the unit.

As mentioned earlier, investors should position themselves on Valeant of what will likely be a very strong second half of the year. As I predicted before – the shares will likely rally to the $ 30 goal this year. The purpose of this article will be on Lucemyra's market potential – if you want a broader investment thesis behind my prize goal in Valeant please visit my last article.

The Opioid Epidemic

In 2016, there were over 63,600 overdose deaths in the United States of which 42,249 or 66.4% were related to drug abuse. # 39; opiates. It's an average of 115 overdose deaths from opioids every day . A total of 236 million opioid prescriptions were issued in 2016. Although this number has decreased since the record 282 million prescriptions in 2012, this number remains extremely high.

For example, between 2007 and 2016, the most prescribed opioid was hydrocodone (Vicodin). In 2016, 6.2 billion hydrocodone pills were distributed nationwide. According to the International Narcotics Control Board, Americans consume about 99.7% of the world's consumption of hydrocodone

Opioid Dependence

Opioids bind to receptors in the brain and spinal cord spinal cord, disrupting pain signals. That's why they are so actively prescribed in the world's medicines. The second thing that opioids do is activate the reward areas of the brain. Opioids do this by releasing dopamine hormone. Dopamine creates a feeling of euphoria and pleasure – what we will normally call a "high".

The problem with opioids is that they create a strong addiction. It is estimated that about 60% of opioid users do not want to stop taking opioids for fear of withdrawal symptoms. It's a staggering 54 million Americans. The fear of weaning sometimes leads people to renew their medications – or even ask their doctor to repeat their dose.

Now, fear of withdrawal does not always equate to dependency. But one in five people who have had a "fear of withdrawal" will eventually abuse opioids. For this reason, according to addiction and the administration of mental health services – about 11.5 million Americans aged 12 and over opiate abused in 2016.

Lucemyra: A Glimmer of # Hope for opiate users

I will not bother you trying to explain the science behind Lucemyra. (Here is a link to the FDA Lucemyra label if you want to know more). But to illustrate a point about Lucemyra, I'll explain one last thing about opioids: tolerance.

Opiate users must increase doses to have the same "effect". It's the law of diminishing returns with opioids. Until the doses become large enough that they become toxic to the body and eventually lead to an overdose.

A key to preventing addiction is to be able to abruptly discontinue the use of opioids as soon as possible. The 60% population of people who are prescribed opioids and who fear withdrawal is vulnerable to poor choices based on fear of future symptoms associated with withdrawal. But every bad choice does – Whether it's filling a drug with fear, getting opioids from friends or even buying them on the street, it brings them closer to an addiction.

According to the 2016 statistics I just mentioned – about 11.5 million Americans abuse opioids in 2016 and 90 million people who received opioids in 2017 – we can accurately say that one in eight who receives opioids will become dependent on them or abuse them them. Lucemyra helps to alleviate the withdrawal symptoms of sudden opioid withdrawal. Lucemyra will help 54 million Americans make better decisions about their "fear of withdrawal".

Lucemyra: the first treatment available of its kind

The most pressing problem affecting America is the opioid crisis. Most heroin users start out as opioid users and end up using heroin. That brings me back to Valeant:

1. Valeant brings a first class treatment to a national problem where 54 million Americans are worried about withdrawing their opioid use.
2. Valeant can help 12.2 million Americans who are already using opioids to overcome their addiction by easing withdrawal symptoms.
3. On dozens of pharmaceutical companies available for possible partnerships. USA WorldMeds chose Valeant to co-promote the drug.

Salix: Leveraging Relationships with Doctors

Mark McKenna, Salix's vice president and general manager, was hired shortly after the Salix acquisition. Key points of the company's growth is through the education of primary care physicians both in the state and in the country. To that extent, McKenna hired 200 sales and marketing representatives to focus on the primary care physician market. He said at the time:

"We have shifted our marketing mix from direct-to-consumer advertising to the expansion of our sales force to work with primary care physicians"

So to sum up, McKenna took over Salix. DTC advertising and instead Salix used its resources to develop their primary care sales force. This allowed Salix to grow at a double-digit rate. It is because of this primary care sales force that they have been able to print this very lucrative partnership. So, today, we throw our hats to McKenna for his leadership and vision at Salix

Summary: Doing Good and Making Money

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the Readers should go to my previous article analyzing the target price as well as the risks associated with Valeant. Today, I want to leave a thought to the readers: to earn money and do good do not contradict each other. Valeant helps bring to the market a glimmer of hope for a national epidemic. This is in itself a very noble cause.

Recently, there has been a lot of negativity towards pharmaceutical companies. But overall, a lot of this negativity is unjustified. Pharmaceutical companies as a whole enable us to live in better health by finding remedies for the most pressing problems of society. Most trials fail – making the drugs that come on the market more expensive.

Valeant, with his highly skilled management team and Joe Pappa's leadership, has created a company that investors should be proud of. And when you invest in a competent, transparent and hardworking management team, good returns will follow.

The history of Bausch Health Companies is just beginning.

Disclosure: I am / we are long VRX, SGYP.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I do not receive compensation for this (other than Seeking Alpha). I do not have a business relationship with a company whose title is mentioned in this article.

Additional Disclosure: Consult an investment advisor before placing orders. The risks associated with investments in securities include, but are not limited to, the total loss of capital