SUMMARY:
UCLA Researchers in the Department of Chemistry have developed a drug formulation for opioids capable of deterring drug abuse.
BACKGROUND:
It is estimated that more than 115 Americans a day, died to opioid overdose in 2016. The currently projected estimate is that this number will increase to over 150 Americans a day fatally overdosing on opioids. This opioid crisis has cumulative effects that cost approximately $504 billion a year. To mitigate the rising opioid crisis, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has developed a five-point strategy focused on improving access to prevention, treatment, and recovery services. The greatest investment of research interests has been given to the prevention of opioids, with an emphasis in the development of drug formulations that deter misuse (e.g. formulations that release upon stomach acid interaction). However, these formulations have found limited success in deterring opioid misuse (e.g. can be easily tampered with) and are often costly to produce. Therefore, the identification of a new drug formulation for opioids may help to stem the rising opioid crisis in the U.S.
INNOVATION:
UCLA Researchers in the Department of Chemistry have developed a drug formulation for opioids capable of deterring drug abuse. The invention addresses the opioid crisis two ways: the development of non-crushable pills that cannot be introduced intravenously but instead release based on stomach acid, and the introduction of covalent conjugation of the drug to the pill formulation preventing the leaching of the drug for misuse. The development of a non-crushable formulation relies on the physical state of the polymer formulation being rubbery at room temperature. This polymer can be further functionalized to produce drug conjugated formulations that cannot be tampered with to leach the drug. Elastomeric polymers alike to this drug formulation, have been utilized in tissue engineering and drug delivery applications, showing the safety of its usage. It is expected that this formulation process may be an effective way to deter opioid misuse.
POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS:
• The mitigation of opioid misuse due to tampering for intravenous injection (i.e. crushing)
ADVANTAGES:
• Opioid prescriptions would not be able to be crushed for use in a syringe, but would instead allow the drug to be fully released in the acidic pH of the stomach
• The further conjugation of the drug to the polymer formulation agent, would deter the leaching of the drug for misuse
DEVELOPMENT-TO-DATE:
The formulation is currently being tested in animal models.