As the United States continues to look for solutions to address the epidemic of drug overdose deaths, one University of Michigan research team is exploring whether an existing drug could be repurposed to help treat overdoses caused by a combination of fentanyl and xylazine, a non-opioid sedative.
Mark Bicket, MD, PhD, and Patrick Lester, BCPS, DVM, recently received funding through the National Institute on Drugs Abuse’s (NIDA) “Drug Repurposing and Repositioning Insights for Treating Substance Use Disorders” Challenge.
The researchers’ project will investigate repurposing atipamezole — a drug currently approved by the FDA to reverse sedation in veterinary medicine — to counter the sedative effects of xylazine in humans.