One year later: Did much-anticipated studies drive sales of a monthly shot for opioid addiction?

This time last year, results dropped for the first research studies to compare two particular opioid addiction treatments directly against each other. The studies pitted Suboxone (the standard treatment taken as a daily pill) against Vivitrol (the monthly shot sold by Alkermes). The studies were watched closely in the addiction treatment community; many believed their outcome might be an important catalyst for how widely used Vivitrol would ultimately become.

The findings came as a win for Alkermes: Both studies — the first one conducted by Norwegian researchers and then a larger one funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse — found that the two treatments more or less worked equally well.

So, did the studies end up driving sales of Vivitrol? The numbers seem to support that notion: The drug is on track to bring in over $300 million this year, up from $269 million in 2017 and $209 million in 2016. But, as always, it's hard to isolate the contribution of one single revenue driver. An Alkermes spokesperson told STAT that the two studies published last year are part of "a robust body of clinical evidence" supporting "growing confidence" in the drug. But the company couldn't say just how big of a part those studies are playing.