12/30/16

The “Hotel California” Effect

Alkermes is a believer in the classic idiom, the third time’s the charm. The pharma company recently announced success on its third-late stage clinical for ALKS 5461, which it hopes will become a new antidepressant blockbuster. In January of 2016 two previous phase III trials failed to achieve their primary endpoints and the company’s stock price took a nosedive. After the positive results of the FORWARD-5 study, shares were up over 30%. Alkermes plans to meet with the FDA in order to argue that despite failing in its two previous phase III clinical trials, the FDA should approve ALKS 5461 and “bring this new medication to patients with MDD [major depressive disorder].” FDA regulations require a total of two successful phase III trials with statistical significance over placebo. What’s going on here?

The FORWARD-4 clinical trial tested two dose levels of ALKS 5461, 2mg and .5 mg and it failed to meet its initial primary endpoint, “change from baseline in the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) total score.” Post-hoc statistical analysis done on the FORWARD-4 data indicated the group receiving the higher 2mg dose of ALKS 5461 had a statistically significant difference on the MADRS. Alkermes then decided to “update” their methodology and analysis for FORWARD-5. In other words, Alkermes used statistical analysis of the failed FORWARD-4 trial to uncover a significant result within a subpopulation of the study that was not targeted in their initial study design. They then modified their methodology and analysis of the FORWARD-5 trial to match the post-hoc analysis.

In a previous article on the FORWARD-3 and FORWARD-4 failed clinical trials, “Nearsighted Drug Development,” I expressed the opinion that this seemed a bit like cheating. Nevertheless, it seems that changing the methodology from what was initially proposed for an ongoing trial is permitted. But would it be appropriate for the FDA to reconsider the post-hoc analysis of the FORWARD-4 trial as a “successful” clinical trial? It seems a bit like trying to argue that the FDA should give Alkermes credit for positive results in FORWARD-4 even though those positive results only became apparent after the fact—when they began to fiddle around with the data to see if they could find something positive.

Another disturbing claim by Alkermes is with how they describe ALKS 5461. It is “designed to rebalance brain function that is dysregulated in the state of depression.” As I pointed out in “Nearsighted Drug Development,” the chemical imbalance theory of depression is now said to be an urban myth even by pro drug psychiatrists like Ronald Pies.

If approved, ALKS 5461 is proposed as an add-on, adjunctive medication in the treatment of major depression for patients “with an inadequate response to standard antidepressant therapies.” However, there is a hint that if approved ALKS 5461 could be put forward by the company as a standalone treatment for depression. Elliot Ehrich, the CMO of Alkermes, said the studies in the FORWARD program contributed data useful in assessing the safety and efficacy of ALKS 5461 on a standalone basis and if taken as an adjunct medication.

It also appears that if the FDA does not agree to approve ALKS 5461 as a treatment for MDD based upon the above discussed rationale, Alkermes will drop it. Richard Pops, the chairman of Alkermes, said they are not planning to conduct any additional studies on ALKS 5461. Is this just a cut your losses decision to forego the additional cost of another clinical trial for the company? Or is it a veiled threat to the FDA that Alkermes will shelve any future work on a product that was once approved by the agency for a fast track drug development status? In other words will the FDA permit post hoc analysis of a phase III clinical trial turn a failed trial into a successful one?

What is at stake here is that the active ingredient in ALKS 5461 is a known opioid, with an acknowledged addictive potential—buprenorphine. Buprenorphine is a Schedule III controlled substance. Combining it with an opioid antagonist (samidorphan) does not lessen its addictive potential. In higher doses buprenorphine is used as a maintenance drug therapy for opioid dependence (Suboxone; Subutex; Zubsolv). Regularly, opioid dependent individuals have told me that getting off of buprenorphine was harder than heroin or methadone.

Higher doses and longer term use of buprenorphine influence the length of time for withdrawal or discontinuation. And guess what, depression is one of the commonly experienced withdrawal symptoms. The Addiction Blog posted some helpful information on “How long does buprenorphine withdrawal last?” Note that the website is not taking an anti-buprenorphine position. It begins by saying “Buprenorphine can be a useful drug prescribed to treat opiate addiction.”

Within the first 24 to 72 hours, physical withdrawal symptoms peak in severity and intensity with common symptoms such as: diarrhea, sweating, nausea, dilated pupils, watery eyes and restlessness. As the first week progresses, aches, stomach cramps, and joint pain will probably continue. General feelings of discomfort and problems sleeping can occur. “Mood swings are also common, with bouts of anxiety or depression.” After two weeks, the pain and discomfort of acute physical withdrawal should be less severe, but depression and an extreme loss of motivation can set in.

After [the] three to four week mark, most of the physical withdrawal symptoms will be gone, however … intense drug cravings may be present for those addicted to buprenorphine. Depression is also common. This time is very important, as you will be very vulnerable to relapse. . . . However, psychological withdrawal symptoms can last for months after cessation.

Now “relapse” here refers to resuming active opioid use or abuse. But in reviewing the withdrawal symptoms described above, the relapse experienced could just as easily be interpreted as a depression relapse by individuals attempting to taper off of long term ALKS 5461 use.

So someone could add ALKS 5461 to their antidepressant of choice, take it for an extended period of time and see a clear remission of their depressive symptoms. If they were to then attempt a taper off of ALKS 5461, they would likely experience the above described buprenorphine withdrawal symptoms, interpret them as a return of depressive symptoms, and resume using ALKS 5461. If ALKS 5461 is used as a stand-alone treatment for depression, a misinterpretation of withdrawal symptoms as a relapse of depression is also likely occur. Similar to long-term antidepressant users, there could be a “Hotel California” effect—you can taper down any time you want, but you can never leave.

With continued use of buprenorphine, there comes a point where the brain produces an inadequate amount of neurotransmitters in the body. People going through buprenorphine PAWS [post acute withdrawal syndrome] manifest long lasting changes in the brain as a result of long term use. These changes are slower to reverse and can persist for many months, depending on the frequency and amount of past dosing.

I don’t know whether the above concerns will be considered in an FDA review of the Alkermes request to approve ALKS 5461. I hope they are. But if Alkermes is successful in bringing its drug to market, “where new therapeutic options are highly sought after as millions of patients in the U.S. do not respond to standard courses of antidepressant therapy,” be prepared for what seems to be an unavoidable cycle of depression treatment perpetuating depression and further treatment. While the rhetoric appears overblown to some, I do believe there is a “Coming Depression Apocalypse” if ALKS 5461 is approved by the FDA.

12/20/16

The Opioid Buzzard

The U.S. is in the midst of a health crisis from the use and abuse of opioids. Since 1999, the rate of overdose deaths from opioids—prescription pain relievers and heroin—nearly quadrupled. On an average day in the U.S. more than 650,000 opioid prescriptions are dispensed; 3,900 people begin nonmedical use of opioids; 580 people start using heroin; and 78 people die from an opioid-related overdose. Economically, there is a $20 billion cost in emergency department and inpatient care for opioid poisoning each year; and $55 billion spent on health and social costs related to prescription opioid abuse.

In order to address this opioid epidemic, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched an initiative in March of 2015 aimed at improving prescribing practices, expanding the access to and use of medication-assisted treatment and expanding the use of naloxone. So far, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health administration (SAMHSA) has awarded $10.7 million to 11 high-burden states for medication-assisted treatment (MAT). Applications were due in May of 2016 and awards were to be made to an additional 11 states. The above information and statistics were drawn from a Health and Human Services report, “The Opioid Epidemic: By the Numbers.”

Then in July of 2016, the HHS Secretary announced new rules that permit doctors licensed to dispense buprenorphine to see as many as 274 patients per year. The old limit was 100. HHS estimated that change permits as many as 70,000 more people to access buprenorphine. The former limit of 100 was seen by many as a barrier to individuals seeking to access MAT. “The rule aims to increase access to medication-assisted treatment and associated behavioral health supports for tens of thousands of people with opioid use disorders, while preventing diversion.” Clearly buprenorphine products like Suboxone are seen as a crucial element in our attempts to combat the opioid health crisis.

There are issues with this approach to treatment for the opioid crisis that I’ve addressed previously in articles such as: “The Seduction of Opioid Substitution” and “A Double-Edged Drug.” Here I want to look at how the company that brought buprenorphine treatment to market, Indivior/Reckitt Benckiser, tried to position itself as the primary service provider for buprenorphine-based MAT in the U.S. It’s kind of like a buzzard chasing off smaller scavengers from the carcass of an overdose victim. At one point, Reckitt Benckiser had 85% of the U.S. MAT market—almost all of it subsidized by taxpayers.

In 1994 Reckitt Benckiser established the Buprenorphine Business Group to develop buprenorphine as a treatment for opioid dependence. In 2000 legislation (DATA 2000) was passed in the U.S. permitting office-based treatment of opioid dependence. In 2002 the FDA approved Subutex (buprenorphine) and Suboxone (buprenorphine and naloxone) for the treatment of opioid dependence in the U.S. These products came to market in 2003. In 2007 the initial cap of 30 patients was raised to 100 for physicians with at least one year’s experience with buprenorphine. That same year Reckitt Benckiser acquired the rights for the sublingual film version of Suboxone from MonoSol Rx. Then in 2010 Suboxone sublingual film was launched in the U.S. Subutex tablets were discontinued in 2011; and Suboxone tablets met the same fate in 2012. In December of 2014, Reckitt Benckiser spun its specialty pharmaceutical company into a separate business and Indivior was born.

This history was taken directly from the Indivior website, where the company estimated they had treated 5 million individuals in the U.S. with Suboxone film and tablets and Subutex tablets. Here are some additional facts to add to the above timeline from a 2013 article, “Pharma Gamemanship.”

Reckitt Benckiser (RB) knew it only had patent exclusivity for their buprenorphine products until 2009. But they had a plan to circumvent the pending loss. As noted above, they acquired the rights for the sublingual film version of Suboxone in 2008. In October of 2008 they submitted a New Drug Application to the FDA for the film version of Suboxone; and it was approved in August of 2010. Reckitt Benckiser has patent exclusivity on the newer film version until 2023.

In their 2011 annual report (no longer retrievable from its website), RB indicated to their shareholders that competition from generics could take up to 80% of the revenue and profit from the U.S. Suboxone market. But they expected “that the Suboxone film will help to mitigate the impact.” In September of 2012 RB announced that they were voluntarily withdrawing Suboxone tablets from the market because of data they had received from the U.S. Poison Control Centers suggesting there were higher rates of pediatric overdose on the tablet formulation than the film version. They said they would take the tablet form off the market to “protect public health and safety.”

The very same day RB filed a “Citizen’s Petition” with the FDA calling for the agency to postpone the approval of generic version of Suboxone in the interests of public safety. Reporting for The Daily Beast, Christopher Moraff said the “data” they based their withdrawal of Suboxone tablets on was a single study RB had paid for itself. RB reportedly said the study demonstrated the risk factor for accidental ingestion was eight times higher in bottled tablets than for the individually packaged film. Yet its own data told a different story.

Compared to the more than 20,000 deaths in 2012 from prescription opiates and heroin, pediatric poisoning from Suboxone was far from a public health crisis. A preliminary study commissioned by Reckitt Benckiser found just 46 cases of serious injury or death out of more than 2,200 accidental pediatric exposures to Suboxone tablets between 2010 and 2012—which researchers described as not significantly different from poisonings from the film.

The FDA thought the RB study was inconclusive and did not demonstrate any difference in the safety profile or abuse potential of the two formulations. They said the study was poorly designed and conducted. “Reckitt’s own actions also undermine, to some extent, its claims with respect to the severity of this safety issue.” Despite the first report of pediatric death in June of 2010, RB continued marketing the tablets in multi-dose containers for two more years. And it continues to sell them throughout Europe, where Suboxone tablets are still under patent.

In June 2013 the FTC opened an investigation into whether Reckitt Benckiser abused public regulatory processes and fought for nearly two years to obtain more than 20,000 documents the company was fighting to withhold. That case is ongoing. In December of that year, federal agents raided Reckitt Benckiser’s West Virginia offices after the Department of Justice launched a criminal probe into the company’s Suboxone business. That investigation continues.

Public Citizen said that few, if any, companies went as far as RB to pre-emptively withdraw an off-patent drug from the market to make room for a newly patented successor. A year before the withdrawal of the tablets from the market, RB stated in its 2011 report that its goal was to convert as many tablet users as possible to the film version.

To this end, the company initiated a marketing campaign to persuade physicians to switch patients from the tablet to film form. It also employed more direct tactics to complement the marketing push, raising the price of the tablets to levels higher than the film versions. As a result of these efforts, tablet sales fell 19 percent between August 2011 and August 2012, while sales of Suboxone film doubled during the same period. By September 2012, the film version had captured 70 percent of the Suboxone market, clearing the way for the announcement of the withdrawal of the tablets that month.

So it should come as no surprise that a lawsuit has been filed by 35 states and the District of Columbia alleging that Indivior violated antitrust laws by trying to extend its monopoly over Suboxone. Reporting for CNN, Susan Scutti said the lawsuit charges that Indivior/RB and MonoSol Rx “conspired to block generic competitors for Suboxone by switching the drug from a tablet to a dissolving film.” A September 23, 2016 press release on the Indivior website said: “The Company intends to continue to vigorously defend its position.”

The International-Dictionary.com said there are two meanings for the word “buzzard.” The first one is zoological, referring to a bird of prey of the hawk family. The second meaning is “a blockhead; a dunce.” A quote attributed to Goldsmith reads: “It is common, to a proverb, to call one who can not be taught, or who continues obstinately ignorant, a buzzard.” It seems to me that either sense can be applied to Reckitt Benckiser and Indivior.

07/8/16

Another Empty Promise

I’ve been following the news on the development of a buprenorphine implant for the medication-assisted treatment (MAT) of opioid dependence. An early January 2016 article on The Fix related that a new drug, Probuphine, was scheduled for FDA review on January 12, 2016. Braeburn Pharmaceuticals and Titan Pharmaceuticals jointly developed and brought Probuphine to market. A week later an advisory committee of the FDA recommended approval of the implant by a 12 to 5 vote. The President and CEO of Braeburn Pharmaceuticals was quoted as saying their vision is to “bring change to this underserved population.” But the jury is still out on whether or not that change will ultimately help or harm individuals with opioid use disorders.

Not surprisingly, on May 26, 2016, the FDA announced the approval of Probuphine as the first buprenorphine implant. The main benefit touted seems to be that it provides another way to use buprenorphine. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse was quoted as saying: “This product will expand the treatment alternatives available to people suffering from an opioid use disorder.” FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said: “Today’s approval provides the first-ever implantable option to support patients’ efforts to maintain treatment as part of their overall recovery program.” Is it just me, or do those endorsements seem to be a bit lukewarm?

The first thing to know is that Probuphine was reviewed by the FDA in 2013, and despite recommendations by an advisory committee for approval, it was not approved at that time. The FDA said it needed additional data supporting the efficacy of Probuphine. The executive chairman for Titan Pharmaceuticals said they were “extremely surprised and disappointed” at the action of the FDA. One of the issues then was “human factors testing of the training associated with Probuphine’s insertion and removal.” In other words, 23% of Probuphine patients had implant site adverse events, compared to only 13.5% of the placebo control group. Another concern seems to have been that the Probuphine dose was too low for the kind of patients who were being tested.

Another report on the initial clinical trials indicated that only 8% of patients were opioid-free throughout the treatment, also suggesting the dosage wasn’t adequate. And 25% of the Probuphine-treated patients failed to provide as few as four opioid-negative urine samples over the course of six months. Continued use of illicit substances was not defined as “treatment failure” in the trial, but needing additional buprenorphine beyond preset amounts was. “Overall, 35 percent of the Probuphine patients and 72 percent of the placebo patients in the controlled trials did not complete the six-month treatment course.” Writing for FierceBiotech, John Carroll noted similar concerns—expressed by FDA staffers BEFORE the advisory committee voted to approve Probuphine in 2013.

While the placebo group had even more discouraging results, supporting the conclusion that Probuphine does have an effect on drug use, overall, the response was not what one might hope for, given that the product ensures compliance with medication for six months. It prompts speculation that the dose is simply not high enough. … Potentially, Probuphine could deliver just enough buprenorphine to allow patients to continue to use illicit opioids without experiencing withdrawal when they stop.

A total of 40% to 62% of Probuphine-treated patients needed supplemental buprenorphine; another 11-12% needed supplemental buprenorphine even after receiving a fifth implant. Ironically, one of the voiced advantages for the implant was that the pill and film forms of buprenorphine wouldn’t be accessible to children. The trial was also too small to fully access the safety risks with inserting the implants. Plus there were unanswered questions regarding what happens if addicts never get the implants removed; or how long treatment would continue with the implants; or what happens to patients when they stop treatment. So why did the 2013 advisory committee vote to approve Probuphine with all of these concerns? Carroll provided a link to the full staff review in his article.

The January 12, 2016 FDA report on Probuphine is available here. The trial was revised at the recommendation of the Psychiatric and Drugs Advisory Committee as a treatment for patients stabilized on sublingual buprenorphine at doses of 8 mg or less. The efficacy results demonstrated that the Probuphine-treated patients met the selected margin criteria for non-inferiority. In this study Probuphine was compared to sublingual burprenorphine instead of a placebo. The rationale was that it was inappropriate to expose stable patients to the risk of relapse with a placebo-controlled trial. The non-inferiority margin was the smallest acceptable decrease in effect from that of sublingual buprenorphine. However, the responder rate used in determining the results used a number of assumptions about missing data; and it assumed that using supplemental buprenorphine did not indicate an inadequacy of treatment.

When analyzed under different assumptions, the response rates are lower than reported by the Applicant, and also differ from the expected response rate used to calculate the non-inferiority margin. Therefore, under some sets of assumptions, one might question whether enough of the effect size has been maintained to conclude efficacy of Probuphine. Moreover, because Probuphine ensures compliance, one would expect a clearer demonstration of superiority over sublingual buprenorphine than was demonstrated in this trial.

There were also issues with the data on urine samples. The sampling schedule was less frequent than is customary for efficacy studies. The rationale was that since the population was of stabilized patients, more frequent urine testing could lead to patients dropping out. Only ten samples per patient were to be collected. Nevertheless, 12% in each group missed visits and thus missed giving a urine sample. And 22% (25% in the Probuphine group and 18% in the sublingual buprenorphine group) were missing data from one or more samples because of sampling handling issues.

So even though Probuphine was approved, there doesn’t seem to be an indication that it was clearly superior to sublingual buprenorphine as an opioid maintenance drug. And there are concerns noted within the FDA announcement of its approval. The boxed warning within the medication guide cautions that the insertion and removal of Probuphine can be associated with the risk of implant migration, expulsion and nerve damage. There were additional concerns mentioned by the FDA.

Probuphine implants contain a significant amount of drug that can potentially be expelled or removed, resulting in the potential for accidental exposure or intentional misuse and abuse if the implant comes out of the skin. Patients should be seen during the first week after insertion and a visit schedule of no less than once-monthly is recommended for continued counseling and psychosocial support.

The cost for the implant will be between $1,000 and $1,500 per month, significantly more than the cost of sublingual buprenorphine products. STAT quoted Dr. Carl Sullivan, the director of addiction services as West Virginia University Medicine, as saying: I just don’t see how this is going to help fight the opioid epidemic at all.” Dr. Sarah Wakeman, the medical director for substance use disorders at Massachusetts General Hospital said: “I’d probably still err on the side of prescribing it that way [by tablet or film].”

Some critics don’t think the implant is needed or ready for release. Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Center for Health Research, a nonprofit think tank, said: “We don’t need another product on the market that’s not been tested very well to see how safe it is and how effective it is.” Titan Pharmaceuticals has been trying to get Probuphine approved for over six years, and the voiced concerns about it from abstinence-based recovery go back as far.

In October of 2010, JAMA published an article by Ling et al., “Buprenorphine Implants for Treatment of Opioid Dependence.” Although the study was 24 weeks long, the primary outcome measure was for negative urine samples for illicit opioids during the first 16 weeks of the trial. The rationale for this shortened period was said to because “of the interest in examining early-treatment response in the context of this longer-term treatment.” My question is what were the results of the urine tests for the final 8 weeks, and would they negatively effected the outcome results? The study concluded that: “Among persons with opioid dependence, the use of buprenorphine implants compared with placebo resulted in less opioid use over 16 weeks as assessed by urine samples.”

So it’s not clear that Probuphine has a greater treatment efficacy than sublingual buprenorphine. There are concerns with adverse effects related to the insertion and removal of the implant. There also seems to be a potential for accidental or intentional misuse of the implant, which contains “a significant amount” of a drug that the FDA Advisory Committee report for January 2016 acknowledged is a growing product on the illicit drug market.

Unfortunately, despite these features, buprenorphine sublingual products have been increasingly identified in the illicit drug market, and it is known that they are diverted, abused, and misused. Additionally, they have been implicated in a number of cases of accidental poisonings of small children. Therefore, a depot injection or an implantable product which would be difficult to divert or abuse, and would be less likely to be accidentally ingested by small children, offers potential advantages. In addition, if a depot or implantable product provided a sufficient plasma level of buprenorphine to block the effects of exogenous opioids, the nature of the product would enforce compliance so that patients could not periodically discontinue use to allow the blocking effect to dissipate in order to experience the effects of their opioids of choice.

The clinical trials used to approve Probuphine used sublingual buprenorphine to supplement its dose for some individuals, which neutralizes the rationale of it being less likely for small children to ingest buprenorphine. Adding a benzodiazepine to Probuphine would be a quick work-around for anyone looking to “experience the effects of their opioids of choice.” Trying to remove an implant for the high may seem to be a highly unlikely event. Yet I’ve heard of individuals who would lick or chew fentanyl patches and others who would crush and shoot Suboxone tablets despite the alleged abuse deterrent of it containing naloxone. I even read of one individual who faked a terminal illness to get hospice care for the pain meds.

It won’t take long for stories of removing the implant to get high or sell the drug it contains to emerge. The temptation will be too great for some individuals. Screening for appropriate Probuphine patients will be crucial, but the existing failure to prevent illicit sublingual buprenorphine abuse doesn’t encourage me that will work. And was the question of what happens to patients after implant treatment ever answered? What about people who drop out of treatment after receiving the implant? Probuphine is more likely to become a profitable drug for Titan and Braeburn than it is to bring change to the underserved population of opioid addicts. It seems to be just another empty promise to help the still-suffering addict for financial gain.

02/12/16

A Double-Edged Drug

Dee Roberts referred to Suboxone (buprenorphine) maintenance as “withdrawal avoidance” while describing her journey from Vicodin to Suboxone to tapering off of Suboxone. The truth of the statement stung. She said she developed a “deeply rooted” fear of not having the medication with her. Does that sound familiar? Tellingly she said: “My behavior on Suboxone and while using had some alarming similarities.”

In “Kicking Suboxone: The Last Milligram” she described her efforts to break free from what had initially promised her freedom from the Vicodin-vodka cocktail that had stopped working for her. She said she was one of the first to try Suboxone when it became available in 2003. But “not one doctor who saw me suggested I consider going off of the drug. I stayed on it for 10 years until the side effects added up, motivating me to make the final jump.” She spent over $50,000 dollars out of pocket on doctor’s visits and drug co-pays.

If it weren’t for an adrenal imbalance that developed, she thinks she might well have continued taking it for many more years. But that wasn’t her only adverse effect. After a couple of years, she noticed personality changes. She felt like she was watching someone else’s story unfold. She wasn’t able to put words to the experience at the time. “The fighter in me had retired without notice.” She developed a skewed appetite, going from sugar fix to sugar fix. The final straw was when she noticed her hair falling out.

She tried several consultations before she found a doctor willing to help her taper off of buprenorphine (Suboxone). “As if waving a voodoo doll, I was warned multiple times about tempting relapse.” It had been 11 years since her last illicit prescription. She said she found it difficult to separate real withdrawal symptoms from psychosomatic ones in her tapering process. I’d suggest that a better distinction would be between acute withdrawal symptoms (her sense of “real” withdrawal symptoms) and post acute withdrawal symptoms (what she called psychosomatic ones).

Dee’s journey is described in more detail in her original article for The Fix. It involved off-and-on sleep deprivation, bouts of depression, stomach pains, hot and cold flashes, an emotional rollercoaster ride, and the help of a Border Collie mix who became her personal trainer. She had to find her own way out of her withdrawal avoidance disorder, “Since there have been no long-term use studies on Suboxone, side effects are often downplayed or ignored by the medical community.” She referenced a doctor in Boca Raton Florida, Steven Scanlon MD, who wrote a helpful article on “Detoxing from Suboxone.” He said:

Patients, the first question you need to ask your current Suboxone doctor is whether he has ever taken anyone completely off Suboxone or Subutex. If he says that he just tapers a patient down after they have been on it long-term and they are fine, then he is disingenuous or at least ill-informed. If he tells you that he is going to put you on 16mg sublingually for six months while your brain stabilizes and heals and then taper you off it he is purposely or unknowingly misleading you. How can your brain heal if you are still taking an extremely potent opioid that is classified as a pain medication and approved by the FDA as a medication to treat severe pain? On the other hand, if he tells you about the symptoms I discuss below and has previously helped people get off Suboxone when they are ready, then stick with this doctor and do what he says. When I detox patients off Suboxone I follow them for approximately 5 or 6 months and see them once a week during that time. I make sure to follow them for at least two months after we stop the Subutex. I do not use Suboxone, only Subutex, and I will explain why not.

Dawn Roberts suggested that to get a sense of the scope of the problem with recovering addicts who are desperate to get off of Suboxone, type “get off Suboxone” into a search engine. I found over 16,000 results. Then I tried “Suboxone taper” and had over 8,000 results. “Suboxone withdrawal tips” garnered 47,900 results. “Suboxone withdrawal help” had 184,000 hits; and “Suboxone withdrawal symptoms” had 410,000 hits. Writing for The Fix, Roberts investigated why there was no official protocol to detox addicts off Suboxone in “So You Thought You Could Get Off Suboxone?”

She provided a brief history of the process that Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals (RBP) used to bring Suboxone to market and turn it into a blockbuster drug. They spent ten years and millions of dollars to cultivate the buprenorphine formula and another 13 years to bring Suboxone to the market in 2002. They lobbied Congress to create the Drug Addiction and Treatment Act of 2002 (DATA). Then RBP worked with NIDA and the FDA to lay the foundation to introduce Suboxone to the market. Their efforts garnered RBP $1.23 billion in sales in 2011 and $1.35 billion in sales in 2012. According to RBP’s annual report, Suboxone sales were $1.2 billion in 2013, ranking it at #39 of the top 100 drugs prescribed in the US. Oh, and Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News ranked Suboxone as the most abused drug of 2014. Zubsolve, another buprenorphine/naloxone product, was ranked as the 12th most abused drug that same year. Note also that the DEA classifies these drugs as Schedule III controlled substances.

Roberts then related how Reckitt Benckiser told her they were not aware of an established guideline or protocol for titration (tapering) off of Suboxone. A RBP spokesperson said:

Patients seeking to discontinue treatment for opioid dependence should be advised to work closely with their healthcare provider on a tapering schedule and should be apprised of the potential to relapse to illicit drug use associated with discontinuation of opioid agonist/partial agonist medication-assisted treatment.

Roberts concluded that RBP outright refuses to study the long-term effects of buprenorphine maintenance. And it seemed that the company was intolerant of buprenorphine patients who decide they want to discontinue Suboxone substitution treatment. I’m beginning to hear a line from the Eagles song, “Hotel California” in my head: “You can check-out any time you like, but you can never leave.”

Guinevere, on Guinevere Gets Sober, a great recovery blog, came to the same conclusion. In “Suboxone Detox Redux,” she noted that Tim Baxter, the global medical director for RBP, told her: ”We don’t promote detox” from Suboxone. She decided RBP wants you to stay on the drug. Guinevere also recommends Dr. Scanlon’s paper, “Detoxing from Suboxone.” Read her article for good advice if you are considering any attempt to taper or titrate off of buprenorphine.

It seems that RBP has been trying to build a clientele that will continue using their Suboxone products for extended periods of time. Here is an article describing in some detail the gamesmanship of RBP over the years that Suboxone was under patent. RBP lost their exclusivity rights to Suboxone in 2009. However, they submitted a New Drug Application to the FDA for a sublingual film version of Suboxone in October of 2008. It was approved in August of 2010 with patent exclusivity until 2023. In their 2011 annual report, RBP said that competition from generics could take up to 80% of the revenue and profit of the Suboxone tablet business in the US. But they expected “that the Suboxone film will help mitigate the impact.”

Then in September of 2012, RBP announced that they were voluntarily withdrawing the tablet form of Suboxone from the market, citing data they had received from the US Poison Control Centers indicating high rates of pediatric overdose on the tablet formulation. But they were manipulating the market by offering discounts on the sublingual film version while raising the price of the tablets. Hours after announcing their plan to take the tablets off the market, RBP announced they had filed a “citizen’s petition” urging the FDA to require all manufacturers of buprenorphine-containing products to implement safeguards to prevent pediatric exposure, etc. They also asked the FDA to reject any new drug applications for buprenorphine (generic Suboxone) tablets. The FDA didn’t bite and approved generic tablet versions of Suboxone. Janet Woodstock, the Director of the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said:

The timing of Reckitt’s September 2012 announcement that it would discontinue marketing of the tablet product because of pediatric exposure issues, given its close alignment with the period in which generic competition for this product was expected to begin, cannot be ignored.

Writing for The New York Times, Deborah Sontang published two articles on the pros and cons of Suboxone: “Addiction Treatment With a Dark Side” and “At Clinics, Tumultuous Lives and Turbulent Care.” The doctor running a clinic near Pittsburgh was quoted as saying, “I know on the surface it might look like a pill mill. . . . We’re seeing a fair number of patients, and they’re primarily receiving a prescription.” But he added they encourage, support and don’t judge. “There’s a kind of love.” Read the article to get a clearer picture of his bedside manner. After his “recovery” and entrance into the Suboxone clinic business, Ohio revoked his medical license in 2011 because he had forged signatures verifying his attendance at 12-Step meetings. Pennsylvania suspended his license in 2010 for failing to submit to three unannounced drug tests while he was on vacation.

So getting on Suboxone maintenance is like checking into the Hotel California:

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
“Relax, ” said the night man,
“We are programmed to receive.
You can check-out any time you like,
But you can never leave!

If you want to hear the entire Eagles song, listen here.

IRETA, the Institute for Research, Education & Training in Addiction, seemed to disparage Sontang’s portrayal of buprenorphine as a “double-edged” drug. They concluded their reflections with the following: “Singling out buprenorphine as ‘the’ double edged drug seems an inaccurate and potentially stigmatizing view of it.” I’m not buying their rhetoric. From what I’ve seen, buprenorphine really IS a double-edged drug.

12/8/15

Another Head for the Hydra

Belbuca sounds like it is the name for new Italian recipe from a famous chef. Bel Buca sounds like the name of an Italian pop star. But Belbuca is actually the name of a new FDA approved pain medication for chronic pain management from Endo International and BioDelivery Sciences. And “Bel Buca” actually has a twitter account, with the picture of an attractive blue-eyed dark-haired woman posing as Bel. She doesn’t seem to tweet much, but she follows Dr. Oz and several health and medical accounts, probably to see what they say about the medication she was named after.

The FDA just accepted the New Drug Application for Belbuca in February 2015 and approved it on October 23, 2015. The fast turn around was because the opioid analgesic used for pain relief and the drug delivery mechanism were both approved by the FDA and used for other medications. The opioid is buprenorphine and the drug delivery technology is BioErodible MucoAdhesive (BEMA). BEMA technology is used with buprenorphine in Bunavail, a buprenorphine-BEMA drug from—no surprise—BioDelivery Sciences (BDSI). Belbuca contains .05 and .1 the amount of buprenorphine in Suboxone and other buprenorphine products like Bunavail used to treat opioid addiction.

Chronic pain relief is a much wider (and more lucrative) market for BioDelivery Sciences, so the sales from Belbuca should easily outpace Bunavail in a short time. BDSI only recorded $1.5 million in sales through the first six months of 2015, according to Jason deBruyn of the Triangle Business Journal. Endo will commercialize, market and sell Belbuca. BDSI is a relatively small company without the sales force to effectively market a drug like Belbuca, which has a large target market. Herein lies the potential problem, from my point of view.

Methadone, the first opioid maintenance medication, began to be used for chronic pain relief in the mid-1990s. By 2009, methadone accounted for almost 1 of every 3 prescription pain medication deaths. Six times as many people died from methadone overdoses in 2009 as did in 1999. The problem seems to have been the result of the length of time it takes methadone to be converted into inactive metabolites within opioid-naïve individuals. See “The Consequences of Ignoring the Past” for more on the problems with methadone as a pain reliever.

While there are some supposed biochemical advantages of buprenorphine over methadone, there is still a real potential for abuse, overdose and death with buprenorphine. It is a partial opioid agonist, meaning it binds to the mu opioid receptor and activates them, but not to the same degree as full agonists like heroin and methadone. It is by activating the mu opioid receptor that opioids exert their analgesic, euphoric and addictive effects. At a certain point, the effects of burprenorphine is said to reach a ceiling and not increase further. Nevertheless, buprenorphine has the potential for abuse and misuse. See “Is Buprenorphine Just Another Head for the Hydra of Opiate Addiction?” Also see the FDA medication guide for Belbuca.

At lower doses and in individuals who are not dependent on opioids, full agonists (like heroin or methadone) and partial agonists (like buprenorphine) produce effects that are indistinguishable. As doses are increased, both full and partial agonists produce increasing effects.

The adverse reactions highlighted in the Belbuca medication guide include nausea, constipation, headache, vomiting, dizziness and somnolence (drowsiness). Using them along with central nervous system (CNS) depressants may cause “profound sedation, respiratory depression and death.” Benzodiazepines may increase buprenorphine-induced respiratory depression.

The medication guide distinguishes between “CNS depressants” and “benzodiazepines” when they actually fall within the same category as CNS depressants. Benzodiazepines such as diazepam (Valium) and alprazolam (Xanax) and non-benzo sleep medications such as zolpidem (Ambien), eszopicione (Lunesta) and zalepon (Sonata) are all CNS depressants. And by the way, respiratory depression is what happens when someone overdoses on opioids, opiates or a combination of these drugs and the other CNS depressants like benzodiazepines. The accidental overdose potential of buprenorphine does not have a ceiling effect if it is used in conjunction with other CNS depressants like Ambien or Xanax.

When the target market for buprenorphine is dramatically increased from that of individuals seeking medication assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid/opiate addiction to that of individuals with chronic pain issues, there will be an increase in individuals with “buprenorphine-induced respiratory depression,” overdose and death. I expect that what happened when methadone was released to the wider market of chronic pain to be replicated with buprenorphine. Additionally, the discontinuation (withdrawal) syndrome from burprenorphine is anecdotally more severe than heroin and methadone. Regularly over the years I’ve worked with opioid/opiate addicts who have told me they had a much harder time coming off of buprenorphine than heroin or methadone.

The FDA is also looking to approve buprenorphine to treat depression. At this time, the buprenorphine drug formula is only designated as “ALKS-5461” by Alkermes. See “The Coming Depression Apocalypse” for more on this issue. Be aware of the potential adverse reactions and negative consequences from using buprenorphine for chronic pain relief or depression. As bad as the pain or depression can be, don’t jump from the frying pan into the fire with buprenorphine. If you think I’m overstating the risk, go to an open Narcotics Anonymous meeting and strike up a conversation with someone who has misused burprenorphine or who has simply tried to taper off of it after an extended time of using it for MAT.

We now have two approved medical uses for buprenorphine and it’s likely we’ll soon have a third. “Is Buprenorphine Just Another Head for the Hydra of Opiate Addiction?” is looking prophetic. Buprenorphine had just grown a second head and is the process of adding a third head for the Hydra of opiate addiction.

11/30/15

The Seduction of Opioid Substitution

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Heroin and prescription opioid abuse is a widely recognized public health crisis in the United States. In 2014, Attorney General Eric Holder referred to overdose deaths from heroin and other prescription pain-killers as an “urgent public health crisis.” The CDC reported that heroin use more than doubled among young adults between 18 and 25 over the past ten years. Forty-five percent of the people who use heroin are also addicted to prescription opioids.

A July 2015 “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report” report by the CDC recommended a comprehensive response to this public health crisis. The recommendations included: reducing inappropriate prescribing and use of opioids, stronger prescription drug monitoring programs, improved access to evidence-based substance abuse treatment—including medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorders and greater access and training in the use of naloxone to treat overdoses. There have been several steps taken towards making these recommendations a reality. For example, on November 18, 2015, the FDA approved the first nasal spray version of naloxone hydrocloride: Narcan nasal spray. But not all of the proposals have the same potential to free the individuals caught up in the opioid health crisis.

And legislation has been introduced in the Senate to “combat the opioid crisis.” “The Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act” would dedicate $600 million to this crisis. About $250 million would support programs related to prevention, treatment and recovery. Another $200 million would fund local and state law enforcement programs. Fifty million would go toward the CDC; and $35 million would go to NIDA to monitor prescription drug programs and do targeted research on drug addiction. “We are losing lives daily and our first responders, healthcare providers and criminal justice system are overwhelmed.”

I’m not a fan of increasing the use of opioid maintenance medications such as methadone and buprenorphine because they’re “treating” an opioid addiction with addictive opioids. And I’m concerned that in the midst of the existing health crisis, increased access to such treatment seems to be indiscriminately promoted as the most effective “treatment” approach. Sometimes the studies of medication-assisted treatment fail to consider the negative consequences to individuals when promoting opioid substitution treatment. And sometimes studies that suggest the “effectiveness” of opioid maintenance have a biased interpretation of their results. Often what emerges is a program for the social control of addicts rather than one that helps them establish and maintain a recovery-oriented lifestyle. Here is an example of one such study.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) turned a “Science Spotlight” on a new study that looked at intervention approaches for opioid dependent patients in emergency departments (ED). The idea is a good one—developing an intervention for ED medical personnel to help opioid-dependent patients get into treatment. But what it doesn’t make clear is that the “treatment” is primarily ongoing participation in opioid substitution treatment.

This study showed that patients who received buprenorphine, along with a brief intervention to discuss opioid use, and up to 12 weeks of buprenorphine maintenance, were more likely to get follow-up addiction treatment and had reduced self-reported illicit opioid use. In addition, they were also less likely to need inpatient addiction treatment services, saving treatment costs. This adds to the growing body of literature suggesting that opioid-dependent patients may benefit from immediate initiation of medication while awaiting more comprehensive substance use disorder treatment.

Let’s take a closer look at the study by D’Onofrio et al. to see if it truly lives up to the endorsement it received from NIDA.

The primary outcome was what the researchers called “engagement in treatment.” This was defined as being enrolled in and receiving formal addiction treatment on the 30th day following randomization. “Formal addiction treatment” could include a range of clinical settings such as an opioid treatment program, such as a methadone clinic, inpatient or residential treatment and outpatient services. The outpatient services could be intensive outpatient programs and “office-based physicians who prescribe buprenorphine or other forms of medication-assisted treatment.”

The patients in the buprenorphine group of the study received buprenorphine in the hospital and take-home doses of buprenorphine to last until a scheduled appointment in the hospital’s primary care center, which was within 72 hours of their placement in the group. The buprenorphine patients continued to receive office-based burprenorphine treatment for 10 weeks. At that time they were transferred to a maintenance treatment program or a clinician for ongoing treatment. If they preferred, they were offered a 2-week detoxification.

In the buprenorphine group, 78% of the patients were still engaged in treatment at the thirty-day follow-up. Only 37% of the referral only group and 45% of the brief intervention and referral group were engaged in treatment. But remember what the study considered as “treatment.” Any patient in the buprenorphine group who was still active in the free, office-based treatment after 30 days would have been counted as “still engaged in treatment.” And they would have had another 40 days of free buprenorphine coming.

There was no information or data available on any of the groups beyond the thirty-day follow-up. So there was no clear indication if the patients in the buprenorphine group remained in treatment beyond the 10 weeks of the study’s subsidy of their substitution treatment. If the goal was to eventually engage individuals in more comprehensive treatment services, this “interim opioid agonist treatment,” should not have been lumped in with others as the outcome measure of “formal addiction treatment.” The failure of the researchers to distinguish this level of care from the others confounds the findings within the study’s primary outcome measure.

These patients had buprenorphine treatment initiated before they left the hospital. They also had an appointment scheduled within 3 days of their initial dose, with sufficient take-home medication to prevent any withdrawal until that appointment time. The other two groups did not receive any medication and so were on their own medically until they made an appointment and became engaged in treatment. They were sitting ducks for resuming the illicit opioid use that initially brought them to the ED. So the deck was staked in favor of the primary outcome measure.

Additionally, the buprenorphine care in the study was provided at no cost to the patients. The researchers dismissed this as a potential bias in their study, saying that 80% of the study’s patients had health insurance. However there are potential cost issues in health insurance despite the authors’ dismissal. Buprenorphine maintenance treatment is not always covered by insurance, as it is considered a “niche” medicine by insurance plans, as it is approved solely for the treatment of opioid dependence. Insurance companies predict that a limited number of their covered clients will need or use it. When there is coverage, there can be high co-pays. Insurance may pay for the prescription but not the office visits. Some Suboxone doctors don’t take insurance.

A secondary outcome measure for the study was self-reported use of illicit opioids. The buprenorphine group reported greater reductions in the mean number of days of illicit opioid use, from 5.4 days per week to .9 days per week. Patients in the referral group decreased from 5.4 days per week to 2.3 days; and the brief intervention group went from 5.6 days to 2.4 days. Remember that the buprenorphine group was treated with medication (buprenorphine) that forestalled withdrawal symptoms from the time they were placed in that treatment group while still in the hospital ED. Also, all three groups reduced their illicit opioid use over time. Comparing the buprenorphine treatment group to the others indicated that even with the medication, there were only 1.4 or 1.5 days less per week of illicit opioid use in the buprenorphine group.

Finally, the decreased use of inpatient treatment by the buprenorphine group was to be expected. The withdrawal symptoms that often precipitate detoxification or residential treatment were being addressed by the buprenorphine.

It has long seemed to me that the so-called harm reduction approach of opioid substitution treatment is more social control than actual treatment aimed at helping the individual addict to establish and then maintain sobriety. The positive outcomes and effects that are highlighted are typically things like lowered costs for residential treatment; lowered ED visits and costs; decreased drug-related crime.

There is proposed legislation, the Recovery Enhancement for Addiction Treatment Act, which would broaden the definition of a qualifying practitioner to include certain nurse practitioners or physician assistants and doctors with a board certification from the American Board of Addiction Medicine. The number of patients that a qualifying practitioner could dispense buprenorphine to within their first year would increase from 30 to 100. After one year, qualifying physicians could request approval to treat an unlimited number of patients under specified conditions. Writing about this proposed bill for the Huffington Post, James Charkis said:

The consensus among the medical establishment is that medically assisted treatments such as buprenorphine (and methadone), along with counseling, represent the best chance for addicts to gain a foothold on sobriety. Both medications can make withdrawal less painful and can significantly diminish further cravings for opioids — greatly reducing the chance of relapse.

One of the problems as I see it is that this “best chance” description is often mostly rhetoric. The “along with counseling” add-on becomes more window dressing than reality. Even where there is a tighter requirement for Suboxone patients to be active in some kind of counseling, individuals either fall through the cracks with counseling or just take up space because their presence in counseling is required for them to get what they really think will “treat” them—their Suboxone. Some individuals merely want Suboxone handy in case they can’t get any heroin or their opioid of choice to get high. Others want it to sell on the street to make some cash.

There is a place for opioid substitution treatment as we attempt to address the opioid health crisis. But the potential adverse consequences to the individual receiving the treatment need to be more clearly communicated. And studies of its “effectiveness” need to look beyond just the social benefits and the ability of opioid substitution treatment to seduce addicts into a more socially controlled form of opioid use.

06/17/15

The Coming Depression Apocalypse

According to the Motley Fool, the pharmaceutical company Alkermes has a potential blockbuster drug for treating major depression in its pipeline. Currently in Phase 3 clinical trials, ALKS-5461 is one step away from Alkermes filing for approval by the FDA. Mental Health Daily reported that ALKS-5461 was given fast track approval by the FDA and is expected to be available in 2016. Its projected use is as a supplementary treatment to current antidepressant drugs. But once approved, the “supplementary” element will likely stop because it’s new and fast acting. The problem is, the drug in ALKS-5461 that is supposed to treat depression is an opioid with addictive potential.

Before going further on this issue, we need to take a short trip into pharmacology and neurotransmitter function in order to understand what’s going on. There are proteins embedded within the membrane of a cell called receptors. These receptors receive chemical signals from outside the cell, and in turn produce a biochemical reaction inside the cell. The chemicals that bind and activate a specific receptor are called agonists. While an agonist causes a reaction, an antagonist blocks that reaction from occurring within the cell. It turns the cell off from the influence of the agonist.

Receptors are activated by either endogenous agonists (hormones or neurotransmitters), or exogenous agonists (drugs). Endogenous agonists are produced by the body. The endogenous opioid agonists include dynorphins, and the more widely known endorphins. If you want more information on biochemistry and neurotransmitter activity, try these Wikipedia pages for starters: opioid receptor, mu-opioid receptor, and agonist.

Opioids are known to have energizing and mood enhancing effects with some users. This effect seems to be associated with dynorphin, which is elevated in depression. Dynorphin is a full agonist for the kappa opioid receptor (KOR). Studies like that done by Knoll and Carlezon, “Dynorphin, Stress and Depression,” suggest that KOR antagonists may have a potential therapeutic potential in treating anxiety and depression. While this biochemical hypothesis makes sense to psychiatrist Daniel Carlat, in The Carlat Psychiatry Report, he was more reserved on the treatment potential of ALKS-5461 than Mental Health Daily and the Motley Fool.

The efficacy of ALKS-5461 for depression remains to be seen. Some trials of ALKS-33 alone have already been performed, particularly in the areas of alcohol dependence and binge-eating disorder. These have been negative.

Now let’s look at my concern with ALKS-5461. First, it is a combination of buprenorphine, and samidorphan, or ALKS-33. Buprenorphine is used in addiction treatment as a detoxification drug and in opioid maintenance therapy, where its brand names are Suboxone (buprenorphine with naloxone) and Subutex (buprenorphine without naloxone). Suboxone and Subutex are classified as Schedule III controlled substances, meaning they have a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological withdrawal. Other Schedule III drugs include ketamine and anabolic steroids.

Buprenorphine is a partial mu opioid agonist, meaning it displaces morphine, methadone, and other full opioid agonists from activating the mu opioid receptor (MOR). But it does not provide the same degree of receptor activation as the full agonists (It doesn’t get you as high), resulting in a net decrease of agonist effect and the onset of withdrawal if it used soon after a full agonist like heroin. Patients planning to begin Suboxone maintenance therapy are told to abstain from opioids for twenty-four hours before their first dose of Suboxone.

At lower doses and with individuals who are not dependent on opioids, both full agonists like heroin and partial agonists like buprenorphine will produce identical euphoric effects. Partial agonists like buprenorphine also have a ceiling effect, meaning that past a certain point, typically 12 to 16 mg, no difference in analgesia, euphoria and respiratory depression will be felt.

Buprenorphine does produce physical dependence. Reportedly, this is to a lesser degree than full opioid agonists; and it is supposed to be easier to discontinue at the end of medication treatment. While this is the received wisdom on websites like NAABT, The National Alliance of Advocates for Buprenorphine Treatment, that has not been the case for what I’ve observed clinically with individuals who have tried buprenorphine. Generally I’ve heard that buprenorphine is harder to kick than heroin. So ALKS-5461 will be treating depression with a drug that may be harder to kick than heroin.

Buprenorphine is also a full antagonist of the kappa opioid receptor (KOR), which underlies its use in ALKS-5461 as an antidepressant. If the production of dynorphine by KOR receptors increases with depression, theoretically then buprenorphine would block these receptors and limit the release of dynorphine—elevating the individual’s mood. Peter Tenore, in “Psychotherapeutic Benefits of Opioid Agonist Therapy,” said that opioids like buprenorphine could be “effective, durable and rapid therapeutic agents for anxiety and depression.” The problem is with the partial agonist effect that buprenorphine has on mu opioid receptors (MOR) you can still use buprenorphine to get high.

That was the rationale for combining naloxone with buprenorphine in Suboxone. Naloxone is an opioid antagonist that counters the effects of opioids at the mu receptor, but doesn’t trigger a euphoric effect. Marketed under the brand name of Narcan, naloxone is used to counter the effects of opioids in overdose situations. The death of Phillip Seymour Hoffman led to calls for greater availability of naloxone (see “The Opioid-Heroin Cycle”) for individuals to use in overdose situations.

While naloxone is still the standard medication for emergency reversal of opioid overdose, its clinical use in long-term opioid addiction treatment is being superseded by naltrexone. Naltrexone (C20H23NO4) is structurally similar to naloxone (C19H21NO4), and samidorphan (C21H26N2O4). But it has a slightly increased affinity for κ-opioid receptors (KOR) and has a longer duration of action than naloxone. Naltrexone is used as a preventative medication for opioid use disorder in Vivitrol, whose marketing rights are owned by Askemet.

Samidorphan (ALKS-33) is also a full opioid antagonist, acting on the MOR receptor with mixed agonist-antagonist activity at the KOR receptor. Combining samidorphan with buprenorphine is supposed to block the agonist effect of buprenorphine on the MOR receptor, while not inhibiting the buprenorphine antagonist effect on the KOR receptor. A study by Shram et al. comparing samidorphan to naltrexone was published online ahead of the June 2015 issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. Samidorphin was found to have greater binding affinity than naltrexone to mu receptors and a longer half-life. This was suggestive of prolonged opioid receptor antagonism at lower doses of samidorphin. The study, though, was funded by Askemet.

Suboxone (buprenorphine and naloxone) and ALKS-5461 (buprenorphine and samidorphin) appear to be biochemical twins. And it does not seem to me that the addictive potential of buprenorphine has been entirely neutralized by its combination with samidorphin as claimed. The history of abuse and diversion with Suboxone supports this concern. If my fear is true, then in the name of treating depression, ALKS-5461 will create a huge population of individuals who become dependent upon buprenorphine.

Coming off of buprenorphine is not fun. Here is a personal testimony of someone tapering off of buprenorphine. Oh, and mood swings with bouts of anxiety or depression are common side effects with buprenorphine withdrawal.

Buprenorphine withdrawal symptoms last longer for those who use buprenorphine for longer periods of time or at higher doses. Additionally, those who use buprenorphine other than prescribed (snort, inject, chew) may experience more severe symptoms than someone taking buprenorphine as prescribed. In these cases, physical buprenorphine withdrawal symptoms can last weeks after stopping.However, psychological withdrawal symptoms can last for many months after cessation. It is recommended that you join a support group or see a psychologist who can help see you through the protracted or post acute withdrawal symptoms (PAWS). Many heavy buprenorphine users experience PAWS. With continued use of buprenorphine, there comes a point where the brain produces in an inadequate amount of neurotransmitters in the body. People going through buprenorphine PAWS manifest long lasting changes in the brain as a result of long term use.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) estimated that in 2013, 1.8 million people had an opioid use disorder; 517,000 of which had one related to heroin use. SAMHSA also estimated that each year, 9.1% of the adult population experience symptoms consistent with major depression. One 2012 study suggested that 10% to 30% of individuals with major depression suffer from treatment resistant depression. Using a U.S. population estimate of 320.94 million, with a median 20% for individuals with treatment resistant depression, that leaves a target population of over 5.84 million Americans with treatment resistant depression. God help us.

I don’t think it is too strong rhetorically to speak of a pending depression apocalypse. I hope I’m wrong. But widespread use of ALKS-5461 could instigate a huge population of individuals dependent upon buprenorphine. And the problems coming off of ALKS-5461 would eclipse what we now know happens with SSRI withdrawal. Within the biochemical worldview, these symptoms will be reinterpreted as evidence of the underlying depression and proof the individual needs to remain on ALKS-5461. Sound familiar?

Faith Seeking Understanding

Charles Sigler, D.Phil.

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