Study Finds Vast Differences In Ease-Of-Use For Naloxone Delivery Methods

Full study evaluating two formulations of opioid reversal drug naloxone were published in Pain and Therapy

PHILADELPHIA, April 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Design Science Consulting, Inc., today announced results from a comparative analysis have determined that NARCAN^® Nasal Spray is easier for non-medical personnel to administer than a prefilled syringe. The full study, entitled "Comparative Human Factors Evaluation of Two Nasal Naloxone Administration Devices: NARCAN^® Nasal Spray and Naloxone Prefilled Syringe with Nasal Atomizer," was published in Pain and Therapy.

The comparative analysis contrasted two delivery methods for the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone, which included NARCAN^® Nasal Spray and a naloxone prefilled syringe with a nasal atomizer (PFS-NA). Human factors specialists considered use requirements of different user groups, a human factors task analysis of both products, and a comparative risk assessment of the tasks that were different for the products. Human factors specialists found that the level of task complexity and number of steps within those tasks were substantially greater for PFS-NA than for the nasal formulation.

"Opioid overdose reversal is often dependent upon non-medical first responders or bystanders to intervene," said Peter Sneeringer, Research Director at Design Science and analyst for the comparative analysis. "Based on these results, we believe that the use of the nasal formulation of naloxone should increase the likelihood that non-medical personnel correctly deliver the treatment in time-critical, high-stress opioid overdose rescue situations." 

The comparative analysis was initiated by Design Science in October 2018. The technical evaluation was funded by ADAPT Pharma, Inc. MedVal Scientific Information Services, LLC, provided editorial and submission support, which was also funded by ADAPT.

"The opioid epidemic has become an increasingly prevalent public health crisis," added Mary Yovanoff, Associate Engineer at Design Science. "If delivered in time, naloxone is able to reverse the effects of an overdose. These data, as well as the recently-published 'Comparison of the Pharmacokinetic Properties of Naloxone Following the Use of FDA-Approved Intranasal and Intramuscular Devices Versus a Common Improvised Nasal Naloxone Device' in The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, are further evidence that NARCAN^® Nasal Spray is a preferred formulation of naloxone."

SOURCE Design Science Consulting, Inc.