White House Opioid Commission Announces Research Partnership

More than a dozen pharmaceutical industry leaders agreed to work together to develop new painkillers without the harmful addictive effects of opioid medicines — and to use the NIH as a central clearinghouse for research to speed up product development.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, chair of the White House’s commission on the national opioid epidemic, announced the public-private partnership that will also focus on developing medication-assisted treatments for addiction and opioid overdoses, as well as on modifying painkillers already on the market.

PhRMA CEO Stephen Ubl said the trade group’s members currently have more than 40 non-opioid pain medication compounds under development — but he cited industry information silos and other barriers to sharing data, as well as clinical trial design issues, that could be modified to expedite the work.