The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a high-dose naloxone injection product for the emergency treatment of opioid overdose. ZIMHI from Adamis Pharmaceuticals is administered using a single-dose, prefilled syringe that delivers 5 mg of naloxone hydrochloride solution through intramuscular or subcutaneous injection.
Naloxone is an opioid antagonist that works by blocking or reversing the effects of the opioid, including extreme drowsiness, slowed breathing, or loss of consciousness. Opioid-related overdose deaths — driven partly by prescription drug overdoses — remain a leading cause of death in the United States.
“The higher intramuscular doses of naloxone in ZIMHI should result in more rapid and higher levels of naloxone in the systemic circulation, which in turn, should result in more successful resuscitations,” said Adamis Pharmaceuticals, Jeffrey Galinkin, MD.
As reported by Medscape Medical News last spring, the FDA approved a higher-dose naloxone hydrochloride nasal spray (Kloxxado) for the emergency treatment of opioid overdose. Kloxxado delivers 8 mg of naloxone into the nasal cavity, which is twice as much as the 4 mg of naloxone contained in Narcan nasal spray.
