The company said this week that the 4 mg spray “will be available on shelves nationwide and online beginning in September.”
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the over-the-counter (OTC) version in March. Though naloxone is a prescription medication, all states had workarounds that allowed pharmacists to sell the drug “under-the-counter” to high-risk individuals.
Paying out-of-pocket, without insurance, most people pay $130 to $140 for a two-dose box of Narcan. The cost, coupled with the associated stigma of going into a pharmacy to ask for the treatment, prohibited many people from obtaining it.
The $45 price tag that Emergent BioSolutions has set for a two-dose box and the new OTC status is expected to encourage more uptake among those at risk of overdose.
The nonprofit pharmaceutical company Harm Reduction Therapeutics also recently received FDA approval to sell a cheaper OTC naloxone spray.
Federal data suggests the need for overdose treatments is growing.
Newly released numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week found that overdose deaths from counterfeit pill use has reached record levels in recent years.
Between July 2019 and December 2021, more than 54,000 overdose deaths were linked to fake pills.
The White House on Thursday announced further action against the overdoses epidemic, issuing $450 million in new funding in light of International Overdose Awareness Day.
The money will go toward support programs, raising fentanyl awareness among young people and disrupting illegal drug trafficking operations.
