An October 27, 2014, article published on the news site, ScienceDaily, reported that researchers from The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have developed a naloxone nasal spray formulation to treat heroin overdoses. According to the researchers, the naloxone nasal spray will save lives by providing a more user friendly alternative than the currently available injectable naloxone formulation (Nasal spray treats heroin overdose).

 

In 2015, researchers plan to conduct a blind study of the nasal spray in approximately 260 heroin overdoses. In the blind study, paramedics will be equipped with a package that contains a nasal spray and an injection. Both the nasal spray and the injection will be used to treat each overdose case.  Only one of these formulations will contain naloxone, which will provide researchers with objective criteria to assess which method -- nasal spray or injection -- is more effective.

 

The study’s protocol requires that the paramedics begin by assisting with the patient’s breathing. Once this occurs, paramedics will administer both the nasal spray and the injection on the presumed overdosed patient followed by the start of a timer. The paramedics are then tasked to record the amount of time it takes for patients to breathe without assistance, when patients begin to open their eyes, and lastly when patients begin to move.

 

Dr. Arne Skulberg, an anesthesiologist and PhD candidate at NTNU, commented that in Norway, more people die annually of drug overdoses than traffic accidents. He suggested that expanding naloxone delivery options to patients with life-threatening overdoses of heroin and other opiates would save lives.

 

Cerilliant offers the widest selection of solution Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) for opiates, synthetic analgesics, and emerging designer opioids as well as their stable-labeled internal standards, metabolites, degradants, and impurities. These certified reference standards are suitable for use as starting material in calibrators or controls for a variety of analytical methods in clinical toxicology, pain prescription monitoring, urine drug testing, pharmaceutical research, and forensic applications. Since opiates and synthetic analgesics are classified as controlled substances, these CRMs are supplied as DEA-exempt solutions for added convenience.

 

Click on the link below to view our complete listing of opiate certified reference standards: