Narcan nasal spray maker eyes fentanyl overdose fix
The creator of Narcan, a nasal spray containing naloxone that revives people who have suffered from opioid overdoses, has another project in his sights: Making a similar and stronger nasal spray to treat fentanyl overdoses.
Opiant Pharmaceuticals CEO Roger Crystal first licensed Narcan to ADAPT Pharma, the makers of Narcan Nasal Spray, who completed its development, secured fast-track FDA approval and brought the one-step emergency treatment to market. Now, Crystal is working with the U.S. Health and Human Services Department for a follow on to the product called Nasal Nalmefene He is seeking approval and says he’s equipped with enough money to make it happen, likely sometime in 2020.
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Overdoses in the U.S. have reached epic proportions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of overdose deaths in 2016 involving opioids was five times higher than in 1999, with more than 115 Americans dying every day from an opioid overdose. Overdoses involving fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, are also on the rise, increasing nearly 57 percent from 2010 to 2015.
And perhaps what’s more concerning, Crystal said, is the presence of fentanyl in non-opioid substances like cocaine.
“So someone’s not even intending to take an opioid yet they’re overdosing on fentanyl,” he said during an interview on Wednesday with FOX Business’ Stuart Varney.
That’s not to mention the potential national security issues, Crystal said, who pointed to the Moscow theater hostage as an example.
In Russia in 2002, a group of armed Chechens seized a Moscow theater, threatening to blow up the building. Russian security police raided the building after several days, using an undisclosed chemical to knock out the Chechens, killing 117 of the hostages in the process. Crystal believes that gas was fentanyl.
“So there’s already, unfortunately, a precedent,” he said. “And with the opioid crisis, the issue is now that there’s so much fentanyl around.”
*This article has been updated to clarify that Opiant Pharmaceuticals CEO Roger Crystal did not work at ADAPT Pharma but did license Narcan Nasal Spray to the company who took it to market.