If you’ve ever dealt with pain, you know there aren’t a lot of options for you.
In fact, the treatment hasn’t changed much since the ancient Greeks first discovered the bark from willow trees contains a natural analgesic — salicin, a close chemical cousin to aspirin.
But major changes are coming — and are long overdue.
A handful of startups and biotech companies are developing safer alternatives to pain pills in the face of the growing opioid crisis.
These innovations threaten to shake Big Pharma’s hold on the $25 billion global opioid market, which is poised for massive Disruptification.
Among these innovations are medicine-delivering implants, microscopic robots, high-tech skin patches and electrical-stimulation circuits — some of which are just getting the green light from regulators.
These nonaddictive, new-world biotech alternatives are not only great news for the 3 in 10 Americans who suffer with chronic pain, but they also provide a tremendous investment opportunity.
It’s exactly what we look for here at Bold Profits. In fact, we’ve found four companies that are leading the new pain revolution. One company’s stock is already up nearly 214% since we recommended it.
And today, I’ll share two additional ways to play the tech drivers behind these innovations. But first, let’s take a look at what those drivers are.
PROFIT FROM THE END OF THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC
Pain is big business in this country and around the world.
About 30% of Americans suffer from chronic or severe pain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The global pain management market is a $45 billion industry and growing.
But painkillers are becoming another symbol of our old-world, “one size fits all” medical system that is giving way to more effective new-world, biotech-based “precision medicine” techniques.
One example emerged just this week in a landmark opioid lawsuit. On Monday, an Oklahoma judge ordered Johnson & Johnson to give $572 million to the state in the first-ever court ruling to hold a company responsible for the opioid crisis. If the opioid industry isn’t feeling it, they will soon.
So, drug companies are on the run — from lawsuits like these and regulators who are tightening laws on pain pill makers. As a result, biotech companies, startups and research institutions are stepping into the gap with high-tech fixes that I believe offer the best prospect for combating the opioid epidemic and making investors a bundle.
Here are just a few examples:
- Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne in Switzerland have created a remote-controlled robotic implant that can release pain medication to a specific area, reducing the chance of addiction. The implant — 25 times smaller than the period at the end of this sentence — is now used to help patients fitted with an orthopedic prosthetic.
- Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a minirobot that folds up into a pill. Once ingested, it’s guided to a particular place inside the body by external magnetic fields and unfolds to release medication.
- Cleveland’s SPR Therapeutics has contracted with the U.S. Department of Defense to provide veterans a nonopioid pain relief therapy called the Sprint Peripheral Nerve Stimulation System. A similar device, produced by a Florida company called Stimwave, was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and offers long-term pain relief.
On top of that, the power of the internet is fueling the painkiller revolution.
For example, Chicago-based startup Triggr Health and Denver’s RxAssurance make smartphone apps that help identify the best therapy and doctors for those fighting addiction.
Major breakthroughs in semiconductors and chip technology are starting to make it possible to end the epidemic.
These advances have created amazingly powerful and tiny new breeds of microchips at the center of some of the most exciting new painkiller innovations affecting the opioid industry.
GRAB TRIPLE-DIGIT GAINS AND BEAT THE BROAD MARKET 2-TO-1
There are several ways you can profit from this new biotech pain-treatment trend.
One way is to put your money into stocks of companies on the forefront of biotech, semiconductors, medical technology and precision medicine.
For example, our Profits Unlimited portfolio features a semiconductor company whose stock is up nearly 214% since it was recommended. And our True Momentum service includes three biotech firms or precision medicine leaders whose stocks have soared almost 204%, 126% and 67%.
Another way is to invest in an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that features medical device manufacturers and robotics innovators. Two good bets are the Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (Nasdaq: BOTZ) and the iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF (NYSE: IHI). IHI is up nearly 25% year to date — beating the broad market nearly 2-to-1.
Until next time…
To your health and wealth,
Nick Tate
Senior Editorial Manager, Banyan Hill Publishing
