Drug company sets up heroin overdose antidote rebates

MADISON — A pharmaceutical company has agreed to provide rebates to public entities in Wisconsin that purchase the heroin overdose antidote Narcan.

Attorney General Brad Schimel announced the deal on Wednesday, March 23rd.

The agreement calls for Amphastar Pharmaceuticals to provide a $6 rebate for every Narcan syringe public entities purchase from the company through February 1st, 2017. State, county and local government agencies as well as law enforcement and other government entities that distribute Narcan will be eligible for the rebate.

Schimel said in a news release that Amphastar has reached similar agreements with other states, including Ohio and New York.

Patrick Ryan, president of the Professional Ambulance Association of Wisconsin, said in the release that the deal should help build emergency responders' Narcan supplies.

The Wisconsin Attorney General's Office issued this statement:

Standing alongside members of the Professional Ambulance Association of Wisconsin (PAAW), Attorney General Brad Schimel announced details of a rebate program for the heroin and prescription opioid antidote naloxone, also known as Narcan.

“Heroin and prescription narcotic painkillers are contributing to more deaths in Wisconsin each year than car crashes,” said Attorney General Schimel.  “The Wisconsin Department of Justice is doing, and will continue to do, everything it can to make access to naloxone as easy and cheap as possible.”

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has agreed to provide a $6 rebate for each Amphastar naloxone syringe purchased by public entities in Wisconsin from now until February 1st, 2017.  Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has reached similar agreements with other states, including Ohio and New York.

“Naloxone, often branded as Narcan, can be administered as a nasal spray or injection and works within minutes to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose,” said Patrick Ryan, President of the Professional Ambulance Association of Wisconsin (PAAW).  “Our public safety and EMS partners across Wisconsin are incredibly grateful for the Amphastar naloxone rebate agreement and believe it will increase access and use of this lifesaving drug, especially when mere minutes could be the difference between life and death once an emergency responder arrives on the scene of an overdose.”

State, county, and local government agencies, as well as law enforcement and other public and government entities that distribute naloxone are eligible for the Amphastar naloxone rebate.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice is also exploring rebates with other manufacturers of naloxone.