The Food and Drug Administration has granted a fast-track review of an overdose-reversal drug that would be available without a prescription.
The drug, called RiVive, was developed by Harm Reduction Therapeutics Inc., a pharmaceutical nonprofit.
According to the company, its 3-milligram nasal spray delivered a three times higher concentration of naloxone, a drug that reverses the effects of a drug overdose, than if the medication was delivered in shot form.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the company said Monday that the FDA gave it a target approval date of April 28.
The FDA declined to comment, the Journal reported.
The company has promised to give away 10% of its product and sell at-cost the rest to pharmacies, public-sector employees and groups that work with drug addicts.
The cost would be around $18 a dose, according to HRT.
Emergent BioSolutions Inc., the maker of the Narcan brand of naloxone nasal spray, announced on Dec. 6 that it was expecting approval to sell its spray over the counter by March 29.
The two-dose prescription-only spray sells for around $100 (without insurance).
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