Pharmacy professor develops naloxone nasal spray

A pharmacy professor from the University of Kentucky has developed a quicker, easier way to deliver naloxone via a nasal spray, and his invention is being fast-tracked by the Food and Drug Administration, according to a report in the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Naloxone, used to reverse opioid overdoses, is injected. Professor Daniel Wermeling has developed a nasal-spray delivery model. According to the newspaper, his invention is in the final round of clinical trials and could be available as early as next year.

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"You can fill a prescription at one of our pharmacies and have this in your home if you have an at-risk family member," Wermeling told the newspaper. "The goal is to make the medication available to patients at high risk of opioid overdose and to caregivers, including family members, who may lack specialized medical training." 

A three-year, $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health and additional funding from the Kentucky Science and Technology Corp supported Wermeling research.

Wermeling said he began working on the invention in 2009 following the overdose deaths of two Morehead State University students. Kentucky has one of the highest drug-overdose rates in the country.