BRISTOL, – King Pharmaceuticals scored a victory Thursday when a federal agency approved one of the company’s new pain-relieving drugs, but it’s not known whether it will lead to new jobs at King’s Bristol facility.
The Food and Drug Administration announced it has approved Embeda, a pill taken orally that can relieve moderate to severe pain for extended periods, but cannot be broken into smaller pieces, which reduces the ability of users to abuse the drug.
The approval represents a major boost for King: in recent years, it had been among many large drug manufacturers affected by the growing popularity of generic drugs.
Earlier this year, King laid off 72 employees from its Bristol plant, leaving an estimated work force of 430.
King officials could not be reached Thursday to comment on the FDA’s approval, or what it will mean for the Bristol headquarters.
Company leaders have been working to win federal approval for three pain-relieving drugs designed to be difficult to abuse. Embeda is the first to receive FDA approval for use in the U.S.
The prospect of Embeda becoming an approved drug was a major reason King bought a competitor, Alpharma, for $1.3 billion last December.
It was Alpharma that initially developed Embeda, which contains morphine and naltrexone – the latter in a core form. The naltrexone core is designed to prevent Embeda users from crushing, snorting or injecting the pill to get a quicker, more intense effect from the morphine.
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