Deal encourages development of new overdose antidote spray

NEW YORK – More companies could investigate the efficacy of using the drug nalmefene (used primarily in the management of alcohol dependence) as another easy-to-use opioid overdose antidote under a deal announced Thursday by New York’s attorney general.

Under the agreement, Emergent BioSolutions will no longer enforce a contract that had allowed it to be the only company to use a proprietary nasal spray technology developed by Aptar Pharma.

The attorney general’s office said the new agreement came after it found that Adapt Pharma, which has since been bought by Rockville, Maryland-based Emergent, had a contract with the manufacturer of the nasal spray device that may have had the effect of restricting Aptar from supplying similar devices to other companies attempting to develop their own nasal opioid overdose antidote.

“Given the tragic, devastating effects of the opioid crisis, and the urgent need for additional drugs for the emergency treatment of opioid overdoses, my office will do whatever possible to ensure that there are no unnecessary impediments to the development of additional life-saving opioid overdose reversal drugs,” Attorney General Letitia James said in a written statement.

The agreement with James’s office does not affect Narcan, a spray version of the drug naloxone now sold by Emergent. Narcan spray is popular for police, firefighters and others with limited medical training to use to try to revive people who are overdosing.

Narcan retails for about $140 for two doses, but the company sells that amount to first responders for $75.

More than 400,000 deaths in the U.S. since 2000 have been linked to opioids, a class of drugs that includes heroin, fentanyl and prescription painkillers such as Vicodin and OxyContin.

There is at least one effort to introduce a generic version of a naloxone nasal spray. Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, announced a grant in 2018 for a nonprofit drug company to develop one.