Naloxone, a nasal-spray drug sold under the brand name Narcan, can reverse an opioid overdose. It鈥檚 given away by community and health groups, and it can be bought without a prescription at stores such as Walgreens, CVS and Amazon.
And if you don鈥檛 use opioids, or know anyone who does, having Narcan on hand is akin to carrying a first-aid kit in your car in case someone needs it, advocates say. But the Narcan鈥檚 box is bulky and indiscreet 鈥 making it less likely a bystander might have it on hand when minutes count, said Matthew Bitner-Glindzicz, co-founder of nCase Tech.
The St. 香港三级片 startup aims to save lives by designing and selling the Nalox-1, an easy-to-carry keychain case for Narcan that attaches to a set of keys, a backpack or a belt loop.
Washington University grads Bitner-Glindzicz and Danielle Wilder set out to create a case after how some of her medical school classmates encountered a person overdosing on opioids in the Tower Grove neighborhood. The friends owned Narcan, but no one had the drug on hand. The person died.
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鈥(Wilder) comes to me with this and says, 鈥榃hat if we did something that actually got people to not only just own (Narcan), but actually carry it with them?鈥欌 Bitner-Glindzicz said. 鈥淢e, as the design engineer, the moment she said that the light bulb goes off and clicks.鈥
Bitner-Glindzicz had just been laid off from his engineering job in space technology. He dedicated time to 3-D printing prototypes of a compact Narcan carry case, and the couple started nCase Tech with $10,000 from a WashU startup competition, $20,000 from donors and $20,000 from friends and family.
The design they landed on is a soft, silicon case that can snuggly fit one dose of Narcan nasal spray. The case is waterproof and sturdy, and can be opened easily with one hand. On the back is a QR code that leads users to instructions on how to administer the spray.
Co-founder of nCase Technologies, Matthew Bitner-Glindzicz, displays their product, the Nalox-1 keychain case, which holds a nasal spray bottle of Naloxone, commonly called Narcan, on Wednesday, May 14, 2025.
An estimated 80,000 people died from overdoses last year, according to provisional Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data released last week. That鈥檚 down 27% from the 110,000 in 2023. Experts attribute part of the decrease to the increased availability of Narcan, which is sold over-the-counter or even given away by health and community groups.
The case comes in purple, the favorite color of Wilder鈥檚 childhood best friend Ian, who died from an accidental opioid overdose a few years ago.
鈥淗e and the people he was using (opioids) with all owned Narcan. (They) all had it and did not have it on hand when it mattered most,鈥 Bitner-Glindzicz said. 鈥淗e ended up passing away because even though they had been theoretically prepared, they weren鈥檛.鈥
A 2024 published by the American Medical Association found that only about 10% of 1,515 people surveyed reported carrying naloxone. Bystanders are present for about four in 10 opioid- and stimulant-involved overdose deaths, according to a 2020 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Last summer, recruited 120 people 鈥 opioid users, emergency medicine physicians, toxicologists and harm reduction workers around the St. 香港三级片 region 鈥 to carry the keychain and test it out.
After three months, Bitner-Glindzicz said over 81% of participants reported carrying Narcan with them often or always. A dozen testers reported using Narcan they鈥檇 carried in an nCase case; four of those people had never owned Narcan before, he said.
鈥淭hat (was an) incredible moment for us, because we started this off saying, 鈥業f we save a single life with this that wouldn鈥檛 have been saved otherwise then mission accomplished, and anything else is cherry on top of the sundae,鈥欌 Bitner-Glindzicz said.
The and are set to launch on Amazon in the coming weeks. They retail for $8.95 apiece. So far, about 1,900 cases have been sold. Bitner-Glindzicz said demand has been picking up and he hopes to partner with universities and local organizations to distribute more cases.
鈥淧eople are searching for a solution for this,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚, in a lot of ways, I think what I was meant to do. ... I can actually touch people鈥檚 lives.鈥
Kym Radford, an outreach coordinator at WashU鈥檚 Center for Community Health Partnership and Research, was one of the early testers and wears the case around her neck. When she shows folks how the Narcan is easily accessible, they want to know how to get one for themselves, she said.
鈥淕etting through the (Narcan) package when someone is having an episode is impossible,鈥 Radford said. 鈥淵ou lose precious minutes.鈥
Manufacturing costs
Financially, tariffs on China issued by President Donald Trump threaten to squash nCase鈥檚 growth, the founders say. Bitner-Glindzicz said they can鈥檛 yet afford to work with an American manufacturer and, even though Trump recently rolled back tariffs on China from 145% to 30%, the levies are still a significant hurdle for the local startup.
鈥淚t鈥檚 something I鈥檓 still very worried about long-term, but we can at least get through our next supply order and continue on with the mission,鈥 Bitner-Glindzicz said.
For now, Bitner-Glindzicz is bartending to keep the lights on while Wilder finishes a doctorate in emergency medicine at WashU. Bitner-Glindzicz said he hopes to develop other carry cases for emergency nasal sprays like anti-seizure medication and epinephrine, the drug in EpiPens.
Josh Wilson is the fire and EMS outreach coordinator at the University of Missouri-St. 香港三级片鈥 Missouri Institute for Mental Health鈥檚 addiction science team. Last year, the team distribute nearly 1,300 naloxone kits across the state.
鈥淭here鈥檚 so many people who have naloxone and so many people who should be carrying it,鈥 Wilson said. He keeps the Narcan case on his keychain.
He noted that many folks who know people who use opioids, work in harm reduction or are first responders already usually keep the drug with them, so the carry case is most beneficial to 鈥渢he masses.鈥
鈥淚 think it is great for the average person walking down the street to have it on their body,鈥 he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Post-Dispatch photographers capture hundreds of images each week; here's a glimpse at the week of May 4, 2025. Video edited by Jenna Jones.
