FDA approves prescription nasal spray to reverse opioid overdoses

The Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) accredited a prescription nasal spray this week that may reverse opioid overdoses.

Opvee is an almefene hydrochloride nasal spray that’s the first of its form for use to deal with opioid overdoses in adults and kids over the age of 12.

The FDA stated that if the product is run shortly, it could cut back the consequences of opioid overdoses, together with respiratory despair, sedation and low blood stress.

“The company continues to advance the FDA Overdose Prevention Framework and take actionable steps that encourage hurt discount by supporting the event of novel overdose reversal merchandise,” FDA Commissioner Robert Califf stated in a press release on Monday.

“On the heels of the FDA’s latest approval of the primary over-the-counter opioid reversal agent, the provision of nalmefene nasal spray locations a brand new prescription opioid reversal possibility within the palms of communities, hurt discount teams and emergency responders,” he added.

In March, the FDA for the primary time accredited a naloxone nasal spray, bought below the Narcan model, to be used with no prescription.

The FDA press launch said that medication like fentanyl accounted for about 103,000 reported deadly overdoses in a 12-month interval that resulted in November 2022.

“On this overdose disaster, we’re seeing fatalities that lower throughout demographics and patterns of drug use. There are distinctive populations and wants in several circumstances. We want extra decisions in our toolkit to assist us reply, and importantly, broad entry to these instruments,” Nora Volkow, director of the Nationwide Institute on Drug Abuse, stated in a press release.

“The FDA approval of intranasal nalmefene, after years of analysis from NIH and trade, is nice information. Together with the opposite types of overdose-reversing antidotes available on the market, nalmefene can save lives. That’s the purpose,” she added.