A new analogue of the synthetic opioid fentanyl has made its way into western Pennsylvania and, while it’s too early to say for sure, officials believe the drug could be resistant to the overdose-reversal drug naloxone.

Acrylfentanyl, which has been found at the scenes of two fatal overdoses in western Pennsylvania, “has shown some possibility of being resistant” to naloxone, said Special Agent Patrick Trainor of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Still, he emphasized that, because acrylfentanyl is so new, officials can’t say yet whether it’s resistant to the overdose antidote drug.

Reports last week from several news outlets suggested that officials had determined with certainty that naloxone, which is also known under the brand name Narcan, would not work to reverse acrylfentanyl overdoses — but, Trainor said, “we don’t know enough about it to say for sure.”

“We don’t necessarily know at this point how strong it is,” he added.

Officials believe much of the acrylfentanyl currently circulating in western Pennsylvania is being produced outside the United States and then imported.

According to Trainor: “A lot of it is produced in China.”

Because acrylfentanyl is so new to the United States, the DEA has not yet included it on its list of scheduled drugs, Trainor said — meaning that, at least for now, acrylfentanyl is technically legal.

“We’ve seen a similar thing with a lot of these synthetic drugs,” Trainor said, “where we schedule something, all the chemist has to do is change one compound and it’s a totally different drug.”

The Drug Enforcement Administration is currently evaluating the possibility of scheduling acrylfentanyl on an emergency basis, according to Trainor.

Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. It is causing an increasing number of overdose deaths in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Fentanyl has a large number of synthetic analogues — “all of which are very concerning to us,” Trainor said.

An analogue is a drug whose chemical structure is very similar to the chemical structure of another drug or that has effects similar to those of another drug when used.

Pesto writes for the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Tribune-Democrat. 

Acrylfentanyl:

• is an analogue of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that has been linked to an increasing number of deaths in western Pennsylvania and across the United States.

• has been found at the scenes of two fatal overdoses in Pennsylvania.

• could be resistant to the overdose-reversal drug naloxone.

• is still technically legal.