Ohio locks in discount for overdose drug

The public cost to treat an opiate overdose will not go up in 2017.

Ohio is the only state to have secured a price freeze with Adapt Pharma, the only manufacturer of FDA-approved nasal naloxone, Narcan.

When given to a person overdosing on opioids such as heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil or a prescription opioid, naloxone can limit or stop the overdose by reversing the effects of the opioid on the brain.

The price freeze applies to first responders, law enforcement and community-based organizations. The wholesale cost for two 4 mg doses of the nasal spray is $125, but Ohio agencies will be charged $75, a 40 percent discount.

Attorney General Mike DeWine worked with Adapt Pharma to negotiate a price freeze with hopes by keeping costs down more agencies will consider keeping naloxone on hand.

"I continue to urge law enforcement agencies to carry this drug, because it can mean the difference between life and death for those suffering from addiction," DeWine said in a news release

The agreement isn't the first time Ohio has negotiated a better price for naloxone. In 2015, Ohio agencies were eligible for a $6 rebate for each syringe of naloxone purchased from Amphastar. Before Adapt Pharma's nasal naloxone was approved by the FDA earlier this year, a nasal aspirator was attached to vials of the drug typically used for injection to administer it nasally.

The rebate with Amphastar continues through March. During the first year of the rebate agreement, 82 Ohio agencies were reimbursed a total of more than $209,000 to offset the cost of naloxone purchases.