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Abstract
SUMMARY The buprenorphine implant (Probuphine™, Titan Pharmaceuticals, CA, USA) is a recently developed long-acting formulation of buprenorphine, which is a partial opioid agonist that is widely used in the marketed, sublingual, daily-dose form for managing opioid addiction. The new formulation uses a novel delivery system consisting of subcutaneously implanted solid matrix ‘rods‘ made from a mixture of ethylene vinyl acetate and buprenorphine. The buprenorphine implant was developed to ensure medication compliance, eliminate misuse and abuse from diversion of sublingual buprenorphine, and increase therapeutic benefit of the medication. The implant is not a ‘new‘ drug, but an innovative means of delivering a medication proven effective for treating opioid addiction. The implant has not yet been approved by the US FDA. The information in this review has been gleaned from research reports, documentation in the literature, and from the author‘s experience treating opioid-dependent patients, and involvement in clinical research examining sublingual buprenorphine and the buprenorphine implant.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
W Ling has received unrestricted education grants from Reckitt/Benckiser, and research support from Reckitt/Benckiser and Hythiam Inc. He has also served as an occasional consultant to Reckitt/Benckiser, Titan Pharmaceuticals, US World Med, Alkermes and DemeRx. The author has no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.