FDA approves six month implant for treatment of opioid dependence
- Author:
- National Institute on Drug Abuse
Photo: Courtesy of Braeburn Pharmaceuticals
Buprenorphine is a medicine currently approved to treat opioid use disorder and is available as a buccal tablet or a film placed under the tongue or against the inside of the cheek, both requiring self-administration by patients on a daily basis. The newly approved implantable form of buprenorphine, called Probuphine, is placed under the skin in the upper arm in an out-patient setting, and removed in a similar manner at the end of the treatment period. Other medications for opioid use disorder include methadone and naltrexone.
Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is cost-effective and has been proven to help patients recover from opioid use disorder, reduce fatal overdoses, improve social functioning, reduce criminal activity, and lessen the risk of transmitting infectious diseases like HIV and Hepatitis C.
Yet, of the 2.2 million Americans 12 years of age or older who abused or were dependent on opioids in 2014, fewer than 1 million received MAT. Also, less than half of private-sector treatment programs have adopted MAT, and even in programs that offer MAT, only 34.4 percent of patients are prescribed them.
Probuphine is made and sold by Braeburn Pharmaceuticals who licensed the North American commercialization rights from Titan Pharmaceuticals. NIDA provided funding for early clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of the drug for the treatment of opioid use disorder. Information about the availability of Probuphine will be made available on theBraeburn Pharmaceuticals website.
Read FDA press releasehttp://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm503719.htm.
To see NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow’s blog, go to:https://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/noras-blog/2016/05/probuphine-game-changer-in-fighting-opioid-dependence
Read Dr. Volkow’s 2014 The New England Journal of Medicinearticle titled: “Medication-Assisted Therapies — Tackling the Opioid-Overdose Epidemic”.
Read Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment: A Research-Based Guide (Third Edition) to learn more about incorporating medications, such as buprenorphine, into treatment.
For more information, contact the NIDA press office at[email protected] or 301-443-6245. Follow NIDA onTwitter and Facebook.
Contact:
NIDA Press Office
301-443-6245
[email protected]
About the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIDA supports most of the world’s research on the health aspects of drug use and addiction. The Institute carries out a large variety of programs to inform policy, improve practice, and advance addiction science. Fact sheets on the health effects of drugs and information on NIDA research and other activities can be found at www.drugabuse.gov, which is now compatible with your smartphone, iPad or tablet. To order publications in English or Spanish, call NIDA’s DrugPubs research dissemination center at 1-877-NIDA-NIH or 240-645-0228 (TDD) or email requests to [email protected]. Online ordering is available at drugpubs.drugabuse.gov. NIDA’s media guide can be found atwww.drugabuse.gov/publications/media-guide/dear-journalist, and its easy-to-read website can be found atwww.easyread.drugabuse.gov. You can follow NIDA on Twitterand Facebook.
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