Express Scripts 90-Day Analysis Of Opioid Management Positive

In an initiative to reduce excessive opioid prescribing, Express Scripts Holding Company (NASDAQ:ESRX) announced a 90-day analysis of its Advanced Opioid Management program.

The program was initiated last September to address the national opioid epidemic situation.

Express Scripts Aims at Curbing Opioid Epidemic

The opioid epidemic or opioid crisis is the rapid increase in the use of prescription and non-prescription opioid drugs in the United States and Canada. Notably, opioids are a diverse class of strong painkillers, often detrimental to health. In fact, per a report by STAT, Opioids could kill more than half a million people across America by the next decade.

Express Scripts’ Advanced Opioid Management Program aims at protecting people using an opioid medication (mainly patients taking an opioid for the first time). As part of the Advanced Opioid Management program, Express Scripts Therapeutic Resource Center pharmacists are also providing proactive counseling on safe opioid use in patient's own home.

Notably, in the first 90 days of the review, nearly 60% reduction was observed in the average days supply for patients receiving an opioid prescription for the first time (from 18.6 days supply per prescription claim before the launch of the program, to 7.5 days supply per claim after the start of the program).

Per management, the company is proactively addressing the national opioid epidemic by reducing excessive and improper opioid prescribing as well as promoting greater compliance with CDC guidelines. In June 2017, Express Scripts announced a new Advanced Opioid Management solution addressing the nation's opioid-addiction epidemic by working comprehensively with patients, prescribers and pharmacies. The aim was to minimize early exposure while preventing progression to overuse and abuse.

According to a report by Persistence Market Research, the global opioids market has been estimated to reach a worth of $42,158.8 million by 2021, at a CAGR of 3.2% during 2015-2021.

Stock Performance & Estimate Revision

Express Scripts’ stock has outperformed the broader industry in the last month. Specifically, the stock has gained 10.2% during this period compared to the industry's gain of 4.1%. Moreover, the current rate is way higher than the S&P 500's 3.4%.

Also, the estimate revision trend for the current year remains favorable with nine estimates moving south over the last two months, compared with no movement in the opposite direction. The company’s current estimate moved up 0.3% to $7.03 over the past two months.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Express Scripts carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

A few better-ranked stocks in the broader medical sector are Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMED) , Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) and Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) .

Bio-Rad Laboratories flaunts a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. The company has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 25%.

Amedisys has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 18.5%. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Intuitive Surgical has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 9.2%. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #2.

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