ABOUT US
The Allen Research Endowment, Inc. seeks to save lives by providing a novel approach to the treatment and education about opioid-related addiction and alternative non-opioid pain management solutions.
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Our research and development approach for non-opioid, non-addictive pain management drugs seek to identify and fund organizations and scientists that have new or compelling approaches to non-opioid pain treatment.
An illustration of our treatment and educational impact, in the first quarter of 2023, we provided a comment letter to the U.S. FDA’s Office of Regulatory Policy for Naloxone Federal Register Notice 2022-N-2673. In summary, we urged the FDA to approve naloxone for over-the-counter sales to reduce opioid-related deaths in the United States.
In March 2023, we are pleased to report that the FDA approved naloxone hydrocholoride nasal spray for over-the-counter sales (“OTC”) beginning in August 2023 – the first naloxone product approved for use without a prescription. Naloxone (under the brand Narcan) can reverse the effects of an opioid-related overdose, which includes heroin and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl[1].
Upon the FDA’s approval of OTC Narcan nasal spray, we sent written recommendations to state and federal health agencies including the State of Connecticut, the State of New York, and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services to immediately begin training healthcare employees at local municipalities and first responders about how to apply Narcan nasal spray to save the lives of persons that have overdosed on opioid-related substances including heroin and fentanyl.
We believe OTC Narcan nasal spray will be a game changer and reduce opioid-related overdose deaths.
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Synthetic opioids are substances synthesized in a laboratory and that act on the same targets in the brain as natural opioids such as morphine and codeine. However, synthetic opioids are typically much more potent than morphine and heroin, and thus, have the potential to result in a fatal overdose.
