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A TINY MATCHSTICK-size implant called Probuphine could help address some of the toughest parts of treating addiction.
The implant, an inch long and the width of a matchstick, is designed to deliver the drug buprenorphine to people suffering from opioid painkiller addiction continuously for six months. It’s the first implanted opioid addiction treatment to be approved by America’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Buprenorphine is an opioid that appears to work by activating the receptors in the brain that respond to opiates like prescription pain medications and heroin. It is designed to create a “ceiling effect” over those receptors so that an addicted person doesn’t crave getting high to the same extreme. This would ideally cut down the person’s desire for the drug.
The implant was approved four months after an advisory committee recommended it, but the final decision was delayed three more months to give the agency time to get a more complete picture of its technology and roll-out plan. Part of that plan involves training doctors, Braeburn Pharmaceuticals CEO Behshad Sheldon told Business Insider.
Sheldon said she expects training on how to implant the device to begin as soon as America’s Memorial Day weekend, with the devices launching for use in patients by 21 June.
Sticking with treatment
According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, only about half of all people who take any kind of medication do so in the way that’s actually prescribed. About 20% to 30% of people never fill their prescriptions in the first place, and others simply forget to take it or choose not to.
That’s a big problem not only when it comes to chronic diseases, which need constant and consistent management, but in particular with conditions that are pain-related and require treatment with powerful painkillers which can be addictive.
Over time, most people develop a steady tolerance for opioid painkillers, meaning they need more of the drug to get the same effect. If they stop taking the medication regularly, that tolerance goes down. This can be dangerous: If an addicted person who’s managed to stop using a drug for a long period of time takes it again, he or she can overdose fairly easily and die. This is what contributes to higher rates of overdose in many addicts, according to the National Institute for Drug Abuse.
This is one of the ideas fueling Braeburn’s implant. “If you make a mistake, because opioid dependence is so unforgiving as a disease, one mistake could kill you,” Sheldon said.
Another concern is that buprenorphine is often misused by people who are not opioid dependent to get high. The hope is that an implant would make that more difficult.
Concerns about cost
The implant won’t necessarily be cheap, though Sheldon said it would be priced lower than other long-acting drugs used in the neuropsychological space. Braeburn is also working with payors to come up with an “outcome-based agreement” that will give them rebates if Probuphine doesn’t save them money, compared to other buprenorphine options.
This is Braeburn’s first drug approval. Beyond that, the company is looking into injectable versions of buprenorphine taken weekly or monthly that could bridge the massive gap between taking a pill once a day and a six-month-long treatment plan. That way, the doctor can better monitor the recovery in its early stages, a concern heard at the advisory committee meeting for the implant.
The health service isn’t “overlooked”. It’s just terribly ran and inefficient.
@Seán Ó hAnnracháin: Agree the Irish Health Service consumes 11% of our GDP v 9% average for other EU countries. Transparency needed on unit production. How many total manhours per procedure (direct and all indirect) v international benchmarks? Please publish.
- 2 Tier Irish Health System is obscene.
- Belfast buses from West Cork for cataract operations.
Tidal wave of health and mental issue s will follow.
The worse is yet to come.
‘Overlooked’ as in intentionally underfunded to scare people into the arrms of private health insurance companies.
“That’s the standard technique of privatization: defund, make sure things don’t work, people get angry, you hand it over to private capital” – Noam Chomsky
@The Risen: Funding has increased by 1/5 over the past 5 years, so the HSE is definitely not being “underunded”, but epically mis-managed. But don’t let facts get in the way of your little rants.
@The Risen: it’s a thought but I don’t really think so there are a lot off buffoons in charge
@The Risen: nothing underfunded about our health service… It’s run by a bunch of interest groups who are more concerned with their share rather than the health of the nation. Top heavy management that wasn’t thinned out in the move from Health Boards to the HSE maintains the lack of value and continuing inefficiency of any investment. Hospitals owned or managed by “patrons” despite being funded and developed by the state limit the mobility and efficiency of trained staff. Working practices designed to ensure as much staff as possible are paid at higher levels and a ridiculous consultant contract all contribute to ensure that any individual procedure actually costs more than the equivalent in a private setting, any of the double jobbing consultants will confirm this.
@The Risen: You say this because the HSE SHOULD BE a leftists’ wet dream – a big public sector (union dominated) organisation running our health system for the benefit of the public. But it’s a disaster. But that’s ok, because just blame the mean Gov or those evil capitalists. Hate to burst your bubble, but the HSE is the way it is because it is dominated by public sector vested interests (i.e Unions). There is no real accountability. There is no desire from within for change and any significant change is fought tooth nail because the status quo suits the special interests (i.e PS unions)- they’ve carved it out this way. At least if you’re paying for a service, the provider has an interest in providing you a good service. The HSE bureaucrat has no such interest, they are paid regardless.
All future governments will tie up the banking crisis borrowings with loans from Covid and will blame “Covid” for everything for years to come.
What health service as its near impossible to even see a GP these days
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