NIDA and Lightlake Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing novel treatments for addictions and conducting clinical trials with intranasal naloxone for the treatment of binge eating disorder, have entered into a partnership to apply this technology towards the treatment of opioid overdose. Clinical trials are expected to begin fall 2013.
Naloxone is an injectable medicine that can rapidly reverse the overdose of prescription and illicit opioids. An intranasal delivery system for naloxone could widely expand its availability and use in preventing opioid overdose deaths, a public health problem of epidemic proportion in the U.S.
For more on the role of naloxone in preventing opioid overdose deaths, see: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drugsafety/postmarketdrugsafety
informationforpatientsandproviders/ucm472923.htm.
To learn more about NIDA’s medications development program, go to: www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/organization/divisions/division-pharmacotherapies-medical-consequences-drug-abuse-dpmcda.
For more information, contact the NIDA press office at media@nida.nih.gov or 301-443-6245.