Walgreens to offer cheaper opioid overdose drug

Walgreens on Wednesday stated it can supply its personal cheaper model of the over-the-counter opioid overdose reversal spray naloxone. The drug is on the market on-line and can be in all shops on the finish of the month. 

The drug retailer retailer goals to spice up the provision of the life-saving remedy within the U.S. because the nation grapples with the toll of the opioid epidemic and makes an attempt to carry down alarmingly excessive drug fatality charges.

Greater than 645,000 folks died from overdoses involving any opioid, together with prescription and illicit opioids, from 1999 to 2021, in keeping with the newest information from the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.

Naloxone can quickly reverse the results of an overdose from opioids, together with heroin and fentanyl, when administered in time. The drug blocks the results of opioids on the mind, restoring regular respiration and stopping loss of life.

Regardless of naloxone’s efficacy, entry to the therapy „stays restricted in lots of communities,” in keeping with a Walgreens launch. 

The corporate stated it can promote a two-dose pack of „Walgreens Model Naloxone” for $34.99. That is round $10 cheaper than the over-the-counter branded drug Narcan, which turned the primary prescription-free model of naloxone to win Meals and Drug Administration approval final 12 months. Beforehand, sufferers wanted a prescription to entry naloxone.

„That was a concerted determination to actually do all the things we will to extend accessibility, not simply by way of amount and availability, but additionally in value,” Dr. Priya Mammen, senior medical director in Walgreens’ Workplace of Medical Integrity, advised CNBC in an interview. 

The corporate stated the launch of its prescription-free naloxone nasal spray comes after the FDA’s current approval of the product. It’s the generic equal of over-the-counter Narcan, which Walgreens presently presents in its shops.

Mammen hopes that Walgreens can assist cut back the stigma related to drug overdoses and naloxone use. 

The drug „is not only for some folks. It is a life-saving remedy that may intervene on anybody at any age, anytime, and it is one thing that households, people and communities can empower themselves by having it out there and might be a part of the answer,” she stated.