Insys Therapeutics (NASDAQ:INSY) may be bathed in scandal for pushing dangerous opiates and readying a new opioid to hit the already saturated market, but it is also promoting a THC based medicine that’s sold at pharmacies. This is the kind of FDA-approved medicine that could help an otherwise weed-wary patient or someone living in a dry state.
Scandal really blew up at Insys when it came to public notice that they were pushing their FDA-approved drug Subsys, which is a synthetic opioid containing fentanyl, to doctors via generous “speaking fees,” even when the good doctors had no engagements where they might actually speak.
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According to The Motley Fool, they also, “knowingly and willingly marketed Subsys at off-label indications to pump up sales.” Upwards of 80 percent of their near $330 million in peak sales was likely generated from the off-label use of pain management rather than for its intended use for breakthrough pain.
Between 2015 and 2017 bad press collapsed the stock by about 90 percent. So why might things look up for Insys in 2018? First, if things are to look up, it’s going to take a rebuilding of trust with not only investors, but doctors and patients as well. But in reality, all’s Insys needs to do is have a slight uptick from the last two years in order to look pretty good again on Wall Street.
Syndros is their other FDA-approved drug, the one with THC, and if it does well, then that could be what turns the tables for Insys. So far no good, though, as the drug’s first quarter in sales was a bust. However, it is unique to the market. There just isn’t another FDA approved THC based drug to help cancer and AIDS patients with their pain and appetites.
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With cannabis having a solidly built reputation for helping people get off of life wrecking opiates, Insys seems as steeped in irony as scandal. And it is encouraging to see the FDA approving THC based therapy.
While THC is a beneficial component of cannabis, it’s just that, a component. CBD has been shown to have bountiful therapeutic benefits and the rest of the cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids all play roles.
