Can this drug delivery method reduce opioid dependence?
The method of administration of a medication may result in suboptimal exposure profiles and poor treatment compliance, which negatively affects treatment outcomes. Here, pharmaceutical company Camurus explains how the company’s latest technology aims to improve clinical outcomes and potentially reduce opioid dependence.
Transforming opioid dependence treatment
In November 2018, Camurus received EU approval for weekly and monthly Buvidal – the first long-acting medicine approved in the EU for the treatment of opioid dependence in adults and adolescents.
Buvidal is a lipid-based solution containing buprenorphine in a pre-filled syringe which is injected subcutaneously once weekly or once monthly using a conventional syringe with a thin needle.
Current established buprenorphine medications, which are the most frequently used treatment for opioid dependence globally, are taken every day as a sublingual tablet or film. However, this form of administration has a number of drawbacks – including the risk of diversion (the unlawful channeling of prescription drugs to the black market), misuse (use by people for whom the drug has not been prescribed), and accidental ingestion by children. Furthermore, daily treatment increases the risk of suboptimal compliance leading to relapse and increased costs to payers and the healthcare system.
The way Buvidal functions is dependent on Camurus’ FluidCrystal injection depot technology, which aims to improve therapeutic performance, treatment adherence and clinical outcomes – and ultimately the patient’s quality of life. Designed as a versatile drug delivery technology, FluidCrystal is used to create convenient, long-acting treatments.
The technology uses combinations of endogenous polar lipids that spontaneously self-aggregate to form well-defined gel-like liquid crystal nanostructures in aqueous environments – such as at tissue surfaces or in the body. The time it takes for the structures to break down can be controlled by adjusting the formulation’s composition. Camurus is combining these lipids with active pharmaceutical ingredients which have proven efficacy and safety profiles, to develop new medicines which extend and reinforce treatment efficacy.
In Buvidal for instance, FluidCrystal injection depot technology enables the depot to biodegrade at a controlled rate over time, releasing the buprenorphine which blocks the drug-liking effect of opioids in the brain and reduces withdrawal, craving and patient’s use of illicit opioids.
More so, the simplicity of the FluidCrystal technology – which can be adapted to prefilled syringes and autoinjectors - eliminates complicated manufacturing procedures and the need for mixing (reconstitution) prior to administration.
With the approval of weekly or monthly Buvidal, which is administered by a healthcare professional, there is the potential to increase treatment adherence and also reduce the risks of diversion, abuse, misuse and accidental paediatric exposure, as clinicians can be confident that the medication is being used by the person for whom it was intended.