NLS Pharmaceutics Ltd. announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a Notice of Allowance for U.S. Patent Application 16/645,306, which covers Mazindol as a method of treatment for heroin dependence and substance use disorders comprising administering mazindol or composition comprising mazindol to a subject, wherein the substance is an opioid and Mazindol is administered daily at a daily dosage range from between 3 mg and 16 mg. NLS expects this patent to be issued within the next few months and it is expected to expire no earlier than 2038. The global opioid use disorder (OUD) market is valued at just under $3 billion and is projected to grow to nearly $5 billion by 2028 period.

Opioids are a class of drugs that includes the illegal drug heroin as well as powerful pain relievers available by prescription, such as oxycodone (Oxycontin), hydrocodone (Vicodin), codeine, morphine, fentanyl, methadone, and many others. In the U.S. alone, over 100,000 lives were lost in 2021 due to drug overdoses, at an average of nearly 295 people per day. Drug overdoses are the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18-45, with approximately two-thirds being attributable to opioids.