Health & Medicine
FDA Approves Buprenorphine Implant For Opioid Addiction
Rhea
First Posted: May 29, 2016 08:10 AM EDT
There is now a new treatment for opioid dependence. The US Food and Drug Administration has finally approved the first buprenorphine implant that can treat opioid addiction.
The first buprenorphone implant is called probuphine. This can provide a constant and yet low-level dose of buprenorphine for half a year to patients who are already taking low-to-moderate doses of other forms of buprenorphine. Probuphie is set to complete the treatment program for these patients.
Before this breakthrough approval, buprenorphone for treating opioid dependence was only approved as a pill or a film put under the tongue or the inside of the patent's cheek until it dissolved. However, there are several limitations to using film or pills. They can be lost, forgotten and even stolen. These limitations can be prevented with implant.
As an implant, probuphine can help people who are already in recovery mode which would like to experience the unique benefits of a six-month implant, the main one of which is not having the need to take medications daily. According to FDA, this serves as an "innovative" treatment option to help those addicted to opiods.
"Opioid abuse and addiction have taken a devastating toll on American families. We must do everything we can to make new, innovative treatment options available that can help patients regain control over their lives," said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D. "Today's approval provides the first-ever implantable option to support patients' efforts to maintain treatment as part of their overall recovery program."
According to Stat News, an opioid crisis triggered this decision. Around 1.9 million Americans have dependency on prescription painkillers while 600,000 are said to have heroin addiction.
Before the FDA gave its approval, experts weigh in on the value of this implant. "I just don't see how this is going to help fight the opioid epidemic at all," said Dr. Carl "Rolly" Sullivan, director of addiction services at West Virginia University Medicine. "My fear is that these kind of clinics will just use this medicine as another part of their arsenal to treat addicts who come through their door," Sullivan added
Braeburn Pharmaceuticals, the New Jersey company that has commercial rights to the implant, said that they are confident over the effectiveness of the implant. "We are going to put our money where our mouth is," said Braeburn CEO Behshad Sheldon. "We believe that when you guarantee compliance with a medicine, it is going to save money in the long run."
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First Posted: May 29, 2016 08:10 AM EDT
There is now a new treatment for opioid dependence. The US Food and Drug Administration has finally approved the first buprenorphine implant that can treat opioid addiction.
The first buprenorphone implant is called probuphine. This can provide a constant and yet low-level dose of buprenorphine for half a year to patients who are already taking low-to-moderate doses of other forms of buprenorphine. Probuphie is set to complete the treatment program for these patients.
Before this breakthrough approval, buprenorphone for treating opioid dependence was only approved as a pill or a film put under the tongue or the inside of the patent's cheek until it dissolved. However, there are several limitations to using film or pills. They can be lost, forgotten and even stolen. These limitations can be prevented with implant.
As an implant, probuphine can help people who are already in recovery mode which would like to experience the unique benefits of a six-month implant, the main one of which is not having the need to take medications daily. According to FDA, this serves as an "innovative" treatment option to help those addicted to opiods.
"Opioid abuse and addiction have taken a devastating toll on American families. We must do everything we can to make new, innovative treatment options available that can help patients regain control over their lives," said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D. "Today's approval provides the first-ever implantable option to support patients' efforts to maintain treatment as part of their overall recovery program."
According to Stat News, an opioid crisis triggered this decision. Around 1.9 million Americans have dependency on prescription painkillers while 600,000 are said to have heroin addiction.
Before the FDA gave its approval, experts weigh in on the value of this implant. "I just don't see how this is going to help fight the opioid epidemic at all," said Dr. Carl "Rolly" Sullivan, director of addiction services at West Virginia University Medicine. "My fear is that these kind of clinics will just use this medicine as another part of their arsenal to treat addicts who come through their door," Sullivan added
Braeburn Pharmaceuticals, the New Jersey company that has commercial rights to the implant, said that they are confident over the effectiveness of the implant. "We are going to put our money where our mouth is," said Braeburn CEO Behshad Sheldon. "We believe that when you guarantee compliance with a medicine, it is going to save money in the long run."
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone