White House is urged to sidestep patents on opioid overdose treatment

The White House is being urged to sidestep patents on a high-priced opioid overdose antidote as one way to stem the rising cost of combating the opioid crisis.

In a letter sent last Thursday, an advocacy group argues the White House should use a little-known federal law that would permit the government to take title to patents on Evzio. This is a decades-old version of naloxone, which is widely used to reverse the effect of opioid and heroin overdoses.

A package of two Evzio auto-injectors at 0.4 mg dosing, which is sold by Kaleo Pharma, has a list — or wholesale — price of $3,750, according to Truven Health Analytics, an IBM Watson business. The price has jumped from $575 when the product won regulatory approval in 2014. Meanwhile, a 2 mg dose package has a list price of $4,100.

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