Bench2Bedside:
Tell our readers about Elysium’s approach to taking on the opioid overdose crisis

Greg Sturmer:
We’ve all seen the devastating numbers, and no doubt most of us are connected, with a family member or loved one who lost their life to the opioid epidemic. Today, synthetic opioids are the number one killer of adults aged 18 to 45 in the U.S. At Elysium, we set out to establish a new standard of care and bring new solutions to the opioid crisis.

We’re developing SOOPR™, Synthetic Opioid Overdose Prevention and Reversal, which was designed specifically to combat oral fentanyl overdose. We believe that SOOPR has the potential to save thousands of lives in the high stress minutes following an overdose by reducing re-narcotization (also known as fentanyl rebound), which often leads to hypoxic brain injury, cardiovascular events, and even death.

We recognized an immediate need in which altering the molecular design of a drug for an improved pharmacokinetic profile could save lives. Our CSO Tom Jenkins, Ph.D., invented a rapid-acting, long-duration reversal agent, which we call SOOPR Naloxone. Recognizing the enormous need for better rescue agents, Elysium is planning to rapidly advance the SOOPR clinical program to reach the market in the next three years.

Bench2Bedside:
Tell our readers more about the unmet medical need

Greg Sturmer:
Few realize that short-acting opioid antagonists like Narcan® and Opvee® are frequently ineffective in the management of synthetic opioid overdoses. It is estimated that 20 to 45% of overdose victims who are initially rescued with naloxone end up experiencing a re-narcotization event. Though it’s become commonplace for people to keep these rescue agents available and on-hand in various settings, few realize that they may only give you 30 minutes, at most, of protection from overdose if a synthetic opioid, like oral fentanyl was the cause. Many EMTs know that overdosing patients are often dosed multiple times, sometimes four to six doses with a rescue agent, on their way to the hospital.

Based on our proof-of-concept work, we are confident that SOOPR can provide faster acting protection against overdose, with protection lasting out to approximately 24 hours. Additionally, we recognized that intranasal delivery of rescue treatments can lead to partial and uncertain dosing in high stress settings. So, we’ve designed SOOPR with an intramuscular route of administration, producing more reliable dosing compared to intranasal administration.

Bench2Bedside:
How is Elysium working to educate people about fentanyl rebound?

Greg Sturmer:
As we work to develop SOOPR, we’re also on an awareness mission, to help people understand just how common re-narcotization events, also known as “fentanyl rebound”, truly are.

Current rescue agents have saved tens of thousands of lives, so it is important to see them widely available. But these treatments have severe limitations, and the pharmacokinetics are poorly matched to synthetic opioids like fentanyl that have become so prevalent. It is vital that people be ready with multiple doses of rescue agents and understand the urgent need to get EMS to an individual experiencing an overdose.

At Elysium we feel this same sense of urgency as we work to innovate better solutions that we are confident will save lives.