Donations continue to Remedy Alliance/For The People where it is being distributed to under-resourced harm reduction organizations across the U.S.Additional donations of RiVive™ have been made to Prevention Point Pittsburgh PITTSBURGH, Pa., Sept. 03, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In support and recognition of International Overdose Awareness Day – the world’s largest annual campaign to end overdose – we remember, without stigma, those who have died and acknowledge the grief of family and friends left behind. Harm Reduction Therapeutics (HRT), Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit pharmaceutical company, continues its free donations of their over-the-counter RiVive™ (naloxone HCl nasal spray 3 mg) for the emergency treatment of opioid overdose to Remedy Alliance/For the People and also made a RiVive™ donation to Prevention Point Pittsburgh (PPP). Both nonprofit organizations make naloxone available to those people most at risk of an opioid overdose. These donations reflect HRT's singular mission of preventing opioid overdose deaths by making free-of-charge or low-cost over-the-counter naloxone available to everyone in the United States, primarily through community harm reduction organizations. “HRT’s donation of RiVive is a critical resource for under-resourced community harm reduction programs. This free donation of RiVive™ is already helping us provide life-saving naloxone to community programs across the country, including Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin,” said Eliza Wheeler, co-founder and director of Remedy Alliance/For the People. HRT’s work is guided by harm reduction principles like reducing negative consequences associated with drug use. FDA approved our formulation of RiVive™ as a 3-milligram naloxone product, which is strong enough to save lives, while minimizing the unintended consequences of overdose reversal, like precipitated withdrawal. Made in the US, it compassionately reverses the effects of opioid overdose. “HRT relied on input from community harm reduction experts who have been working for decades to support the health and well-being of people who use drugs,” said Dr. Michael Hufford, co-founder and CEO of HRT. “Alice Bell, overdose prevention project director at PPP, gave us critical early input on the importance of having a compassionate dose of naloxone in RiVive™.” “We are so excited to be able to offer a compassionate dose of nasal naloxone to people who are at risk of overdose and reversing overdoses daily. A program participant recently asked ‘Why does Pennsylvania not already have 3mg naloxone available? Nobody ever asks us for what we need or pays attention when we say it. We're tired of being forced to make our friends so sick to bring them back’, so we are very happy to be able to have RiVive™ to offer them now!”, said Alice Bell from PPP. With additional funding partners, nonprofit HRT may be able to make more product donations or decrease the product selling price for harm reduction organizations, public charities and other local community groups. HRT is actively seeking additional funding partners who will play a pivotal role in helping to provide more low-cost or free of charge RiVive™ across the US. RiVive™ is currently available for purchase through Remedy Alliance/For The People, The Drug Intervention Institute (DII) ONEbox™, A2A Alliance Pharmaceuticals (A2A), Cardinal Health (CIN# 5911292), Cencora (SAP Number: 10287632), McKesson (ECONO Number: 2931160) and McKesson Med-Surg MMS (Item Number: 1252500). RiVive™ is also available to purchase directly from HRT via its online website ordering portal: www.RiVive.com. Contact Information Media and funding partner inquiries: Dr. Michael Hufford mhufford@harmreductiontherapeutics.orgPurchase inquiries: sales@harmreductiontherapeutics.org About Harm Reduction Therapeutics, Inc. Harm Reduction Therapeutics (HRT), Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit pharmaceutical company whose single mission is to prevent opioid overdose deaths by making free of charge or low-cost over-the-counter naloxone available to everyone. It is the first and only nonprofit company to achieve FDA approval of a naloxone nasal spray. Founded in 2017 in response to the severe price and access limits to existing naloxone products, HRT brings together experts in drug development, harm reduction, substance dependence, public health policy and over-the-counter switches of prescription pharmaceuticals. For more information, please visit www.harmreductiontherapeutics.org or call 1-888-412-7454. About Remedy AllianceRemedy Alliance/For The People is a nonprofit organization focused on distributing low-cost naloxone to harm reduction programs dedicated to helping people who use drugs. Formerly known as the all-volunteer OSNN Buyers Club established in 2012, Remedy Alliance/For The People incorporated in 2021 in order to create a sustainable and equitable infrastructure to secure naloxone for harm reduction programs to distribute to prevent overdoses and save lives. Remedy Alliance/For the People works with over 542 affiliated programs who distribute naloxone directly to people who use drugs in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. For more information, please visit: https://remedyallianceftp.org/. About Prevention Point PittsburghPrevention Point Pittsburgh (PPP) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing health empowerment services to people who use drugs. The mission of PPP is to promote and advocate for the reduction of harms associated with injection and other forms of drug use, and to reduce the risk of HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, other blood-borne infections and overdose.Founded in 1995, dedicated volunteers, began providing syringe distribution services in Pittsburgh, on a Hill District street-corner to prevent the spread of injection-related blood-borne disease. In April 2002, PPP received County authorization and has grown to include five distribution sites and provides services to over 5,000 individuals annually. PPP was an early distributor of naloxone, beginning in 2005 and documented close to 900 overdose reversals by people who got naloxone from PPP in 2023. PPP has expanded services to include statewide naloxone mailing, low threshold buprenorphine prescribing as well as drug checking services. About RiVive™RiVive™ (naloxone HCl nasal spray 3 mg) is Harm Reduction Therapeutics’ novel over-the-counter intranasal formulation of naloxone (3.0 mg) delivered as an atomized spray (0.1 ml) that can save lives. It uses an easy-to-use standard unit dose system for single administration for the emergency treatment of opioid overdose without a prescription. RiVive™ produces a 3-fold higher systemic exposure with comparable early absorption to the reference naloxone product (0.4 mg delivered via intramuscular injection). Human factors validation work demonstrated that laypeople were able to administer RiVive™ in a simulated emergency overdose situation. Warning: when using this product, some people may experience symptoms when they wake up such as shaking, sweating, nausea or feeling irritable. For more information or Drug Facts call toll free (888) 412.7454 or go to: RiVive.com About Naloxone Naloxone is a safe and effective FDA approved opioid antagonist that has been used for decades to safely and effectively reverse opioid overdoses.1 To learn more, visit: Naloxone - Harm Reduction Therapeutics.Note to Editors: The approved and official product name is RiVive™ and it should always be so capitalized and trademarked. High quality images of RiVive™ logos, product packaging, and an instructional video can be found here. 1 For example: Avetian, et al. (2018) DOI : 10.1080/03007995.2017.1334637 ; Bennett, et al. (2018) DOI : 10.1080/02791072.2018.1430409; Campbell (2020). ISBN: 978-0262043663; https://remedyallianceftp.org/pages/history.
