Why the Opioid Crisis Makes Vertex Pharmaceuticals a Buy

Investors like Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) for its cystic fibrosis products and hefty pipeline. The company has four products on the market for the disease and three additional treatments in Phase II. The strength of its products has translated into earnings, with positive surprises over at least the past four quarters and product revenue of $950 million in the third quarter. That's a 21% increase over the same period a year ago.

But there's another reason to like this Boston-based biotech stock. Vertex is developing non-opioid painkillers, and considering the current opioid crisis, the move into the pain management market is likely to be huge.

In 2017, more than 47,000 Americans died after an opioid overdose, and currently, about 130 people a day die in the U.S. from opioid overdose, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The figure includes prescription medications as well as illicit drugs like heroin. And 80% of heroin users initially misused prescription opioids, the institute reported.

Source Fool.com