Naloxone: new products being developed

Naloxone is an opioid antagonist medication that can reverse opioid overdose and is used in hospital emergency departments and by ambulance personnel. In recent years, there has been a growth in the provision of ‘take-home’ naloxone to opioid users, their partners, peers and families, alongside training in recognising and responding to overdose. Naloxone has also been made available for use by staff of services that regularly come into contact with drug users.

Take-home naloxone programmes currently exist in 10 European countries. Naloxone kits provided by drugs and health services generally include syringes pre-filled with the medication, although in Denmark and Norway an adaptor allows naloxone to be administered intra-nasally. In France, a new nasal formulation of the medication has been granted a temporary authorisation for use. After being scaled up in community settings since 2013, naloxone take-home provision in Estonia was extended to prisons in 2015.

A recent systematic review of the effectiveness of take-home naloxone found evidence that its provision in combination with educational and training interventions reduces overdose-related mortality. Some populations with an elevated risk of overdose, such as recently released prisoners, may particularly benefit, and an evaluation of the national naloxone programme in the United Kingdom (Scotland) found that it was associated with a significant reduction in the proportion of opioid-related deaths that occurred within a month of prison release.