Opiant Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:OPNT) Is A Big Winner For Us

We first looked at Opiant Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:OPNT) as part of this piece back on August 10. At the time, the company was trading for around $17 a share having just taken a hit, correcting from around $23 a share a session or two earlier. The correction came on the back of what we saw as nothing more than shorter-term profit-taking and served up an opportunity for a longer-term investor to pick up a discounted exposure to our long-term bull thesis on this stock.Fast-forward to the end of the month, and we revisited Opiant here.By that point, the company had run up to around $27 a share and returned a premium of close to 60% on any positions taken on the back of our early August thesis. It was a nice return, but we maintained the fact that there looks to be plenty of run room left in stock and that the most recent news, the NASDAQ listing, would likely bring with it a wave of speculative volume and, in turn, some additional upside near term. OPNT Daily ChartAs it turns out, we hit it spot on again. At the end of the week last week, Opiant traded for just short of $50 a share to close out at $49.93. That's a 188% return in a one-month period. So now, the question becomes, what's next?As far as a long-term thesis on this one goes, we see very little reason to alter our trajectory for the company. For those new to this one, and by way of a brief introduction, Opiant is a biotechnology stock that – as its name suggests – operates in the abuse deterrent arena and, specifically, develops drugs in an attempt to counter the epidemic of opioid abuse that is costing so much money in the US right now.The company has a couple of assets on shelves as things stand, the most notable of which is its Narcan asset, which is designed to block the action of opioids and is primarily used right now as an overdose recovery tool. there is a lot of room for growth in the US market with a drug like this but, as we have said before, Opiant isn't resting on its laurels with Narcan. The company has grander plans, rooted in what is being referred to as a heroin vaccine.This is something that few companies have tried and failed to bring to market in the past, with the idea being that a patient could receive a vaccine that would render heroin null and void in his or her system, meaning a dose of any opioid wouldn't result in the high associated with recreational use.Whether Opiant will be successful in its efforts to bring such a drug to market parentheses there are other forces at play here, for example whether or not it is in the health industry's interests to have a vaccine that would render some of the current 'hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues' opioid assets on the market useless) remains to be seen. However, the company is doing the rounds on major news media outlets and publicizing its efforts considerably and we feel that this is exactly the sort of program that could pick up mainstream coverage – coverage that should draw speculative dollars towards Opiant as the program matures towards whatever conclusion lies in store for it.To put it simply, then, we think this one is going to continue to run towards the end of the year and beyond.Keep in mind that there's a good chance we will see a near-term equity raise and this could serve up a temporary correction for the company. If we do see a raise, it might be nice opportunity to pick up some cheap shares ahead of the run.Check out our previous coverage of this one here. We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on OPNT, sign up below!Image courtesy of ZaldyImg via FlickrDisclosure: We have no position in OPNT and have not been compensated for this article.