According to Opiant Pharmaceuticals, the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is providing an additional $3.5 million for development of Opiant’s OPNT003 nalmefene nasal spray for the treatment of opioid overdose. BARDA had previously provided $4.6 million. The company has also received funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) for OPNT003.
Some of the new funding, the company said, will go toward development of the nalmefene formulation for delivery via the Aptar Unit Dose System (UDS) device. In November 2020, Opiant announced that it had terminated a previous agreement for the use of Bespak’s Unidose Xtra device for delivery of OPNT003 and was switching to the Aptar UDS. The funds will also be used for a PK study in healthy volunteers.
Opiant President and CEO Roger Crystal said, “We thank BARDA for their ongoing support of OPNT003 nasal nalmefene. We believe OPNT003, nasal nalmefene, has the potential to be a best-in-class rescue agent for preventing opioid overdose deaths, particularly from synthetic opioids like fentanyl. We remain on track to file a new drug application with the US Food and Drug Administration by the end of 2021.”
Read the Opiant Pharmaceuticals press release.
