The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has just approved the first nasal spray based on adrenaline (or epinephrine) for use in case of anaphylactic shock. If the EU Commission authorizes its introduction into the market, the new drug could be an alternative to intramuscular injections.
If you asked a person who suffers from severe allergy without what he would never leave the house, most likely even before his cell phone and wallet, he would name you his adrenaline injection ready to use. Up to now, in fact, this has represented the main life-saving solution in the event of anaphylactic shockthe most serious reaction that an allergic subject can have if he comes into contact with an allergen: if timely intervention is not done in fact theanaphylaxis It can also be fatal.
However, for the over 150 million Europeans who suffer from allergies (data referring to 2015), things could soon change, or at least be a little simpler. L’European Medicines Agency (EMA) has in fact just approved the first adrenaline-based nasal spray against it anaphylactic shock. The active ingredient remains the same, but the route of administration changes, no longer injectable, but inhalable.
How the new spray works
“The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the EMA – the European agency announced – has recommended that the marketing authorisation for Eurneffy be authorised in the European Union”, the first spray nasale based on epinephrine (or adrenaline) for the treatment of anaphylaxis.
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Before approval, the drug was tested in 537 healthy people between 19 and 55 years old in 14 clinical studies, which compared the effects of the spray with those determined by the injections injected intramuscularly. From the results it was possible to establish a substantial equivalence between the two formulations.
Now it will be there European Commission having to decide on the introduction of the drug: once this step has also been passed, each Member State will have to make its own assessments on the price and reimbursement of the new medicine, based on the provisions of its own healthcare system.
What is different compared to adrenaline injections?
This new product does not aim to improve theeffectiveness of the treatmentbut the convenience of administration. Adrenaline injections – explains the EMA – have in fact already proven to be highly effective if used correctly. However, some allergic subjects do not live serenely with the injectable formulation, risking delay taking adrenalineeven in times of need. Maybe because of fear of the syringe or because sometimes there is resistance to this type of formulation.
From this point of view, adrenaline nasal spray can result easier to useas it is rapidly absorbed by the nasal mucosa and thus distributed throughout the body.
