Naloxone Products Stay Effective Long After Expiration Date

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 7, 2018 — Two naloxone products used to treat opioid overdose patients remain chemically stable long after their expiration dates, according to a study presented at PharmaSci 360, the annual meeting of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, held from Nov. 4 to 7 in Washington, D.C.

Researchers found that the naloxone nasal spray Narcan was chemically stable for 10 months after its labeled expiration date and that the naloxone injection Evzio was chemically stable for at least one year after its listed expiration date, CNN reported. The products tested were not kept in ideal storage conditions, according to the authors of the study.

“I dispense naloxone to patients all the time, and I had a couple come in after it had expired, and they had used it, and people were brought back to life,” said principal investigator Charles Babcock, Pharm.D., an assistant clinical professor at the Marshall University School of Pharmacy in Huntington, West Virginia, CNN reported.

This study “is obviously an important one for this day and time because of the opioid crisis that we are facing,” Chris McCurdy, Ph.D., 2018 President of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, told CNN. “Showing that these drugs are actually stable beyond their expiration date indicates that we need to go back to the manufacturers and regulatory agencies and get adequate expiration dates on these products.” McCurdy was not involved in the study.

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Posted: November 2018

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