Love Pharma has struck a deal to acquire transdermal drug delivery technology, signing a letter of intent to buy Naltrexone Therapeutics for intellectual property covering the administration of a treatment of alcohol and opioid-use disorder.

The drug delivered via the transdermal technology, naltrexone, is an opioid antagonist that is already used to treat the conditions. In its approved form, extended-release naltrexone is injected every four weeks to bind to opioid receptors and thereby block the euphoric and sedative effects of drugs such as heroin.

Interest in using transdermal delivery technology, primarily microneedles, to administer naltrexone dates back more than 10 years, with advocates of the approach pitching it as a way to improve the side effect profile of the intervention.

“Transdermal delivery can provide patients with convenient and safe Naltrexone treatment, providing greater bioavailability, steady absorption and fewer GI related side effects common with oral dosages currently available, the latter of which we believe has the potential to expand the market for naltrexone,” Zach Stadnyk, Love Pharma president and CEO, said in a statement.