Elysium Therapeutics’ Investor Webcast Highlights “Fentanyl Rebound” as Key Challenge in Reducing Opioid Overdose Hospitalizations and Deaths

Entitled, “Innovating Solutions to Combat Fentanyl Rebound” and led by Greg Sturmer, CEO, the presentation noted that short-acting opioid antagonists like Narcan® and Opvee® are frequently ineffective in the management of synthetic opioid overdoses[i], with 20 to 45% of overdose victims initially rescued with naloxone experiencing a re-narcotization event. 

Sturmer commented: “When fentanyl is taken orally, individuals can face a danger zone, a period of respiratory depression that can last six to eight hours, which far outlasts the window provided by currently available rescue agents that only last, at most, 30 minutes. The result is nearly half of those initially given a dose of today’s rescue medications experience a rebound or re-narcotization event, which can lead to a hypoxic brain injury, cardiovascular toxicity or death.”

To address this critical shortcoming, Elysium designed its Synthetic Opioid Overdose Prevention and Reversal (SOOPR™) technology to be both faster acting and with the potential to offer overdose protection out to approximately 24-hours. Additionally, Elysium designed SOOPR with an intramuscular route of administration, which grants more reliable dosing, in comparison to intranasal administration, which can lead to partial and uncertain dosing in high stress settings.

 Sturmer added: “SOOPR was designed specifically for synthetic opioids, which are now the number one killer of adults aged 18 to 45 in the U.S. The need for a rapid-acting, long-duration reversal agent, such as SOOPR, is extreme given its potential to reduce the likelihood of hypoxic brain injury, cardiovascular events, re-narcotization, and death. Recognizing this opportunity, Elysium is planning to rapidly advance the SOOPR clinical program along a timeline that could enable the technology to reach the market in the next two to three years.”

[i] Rachael Rzasa Lynn and JL Galinkin Ther Adv Drug Saf  2018, Vol. 9(1) 63–88 (Also see footnotes 8, 9, and 10 for additional discussion).