On Apr. 12, 2007, Cody Labs became one of only seven companies in the U.S. to be granted an import license for raw opiate material. This allowed Cody Labs, which as acquired by the Lannett Company in 2007, to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients (API’s) directly from plant extracts and, therefore, be more cost competitive with its competition.

In July 2008, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) granted Cody Labs a license to directly import concentrated poppy straw for conversion into opioid-based commercial APIs for use in various dosage forms for pain management.  The value of this license comes from the fact that, to date, only a limited number of companies in the U.S. have been granted this license. 

This license, along with Cody Labs’ expertise in API development and manufacture, allowed the Company to perform in a market with high barriers to entry, no foreign dosage form competition and limited domestic competition.