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Is naloxone really needed in buprenorphine product?
Author(s) -
Knopf Alison
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
alcoholism and drug abuse weekly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1556-7591
pISSN - 1042-1394
DOI - 10.1002/adaw.32389
Subject(s) - (+) naloxone , buprenorphine , euphoriant , product (mathematics) , premise , business , opioid , medicine , psychiatry , mathematics , philosophy , linguistics , receptor , geometry
The word on the street has been out for some time — it's not true that the naloxone in the buprenorphine combination product (Suboxone, for example) prevents euphoria if the opioid, which is meant to be dissolved in the mouth, is ingested. More than 20 years ago, this was the premise when the federal government subsidized the development of the first buprenorphine‐naloxone product, paving the way for Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals — now Indivior — to make a fortune on its Suboxone product. There was yet another delay when the patent expired, but generic manufacturers couldn't break the code for blending the naloxone with the buprenorphine, furthering the fortunes of RBP/Indivior.