Key Facts about “Abuse-Deterrent” Opioids

Posted on October 28, 2016 by FDA Voice

By: Douglas C. Throckmorton, M.D.

Here at FDA, we work diligently to be part of our nation’s solution to the opioid abuse epidemic. While there is no single solution to this complex problem, we continue to encourage efforts to develop new opioid formulations with abuse-deterrent properties that make it harder to abuse these powerful medications.

Knowing there are some 100 million Americans with significant pain each year, we need to help ensure that patients in need continue to have appropriate access to pain medications, including opioids. At the same time we must work to ensure that these powerful medications are used as safely as possible.

To date, FDA has approved seven opioid formulations with abuse-deterrent properties consistent with FDA guidance, and there are more in the development pipeline.

What does it mean to be abuse-deterrent? Opioids with abuse-deterrent properties are tablets or capsules that are designed to deter abusers from crushing them into a powder for swallowing, snorting or injecting to create a faster, more intense high.

Each manufacturer has its own proprietary technology for deterring abuse. Some abuse-deterrent formulations consist of tablets with a hardened surface that is difficult to crush and some turn the crushed medicine into a gooey substance that is difficult to inject. Other current approaches combine the opioid with naloxone or naltrexone, drugs that block the effects of the opioid in the body that are activated when the opioid is crushed. Additional approaches are currently under development.

The manufacturers of the seven FDA-approved opioids with abuse-deterrent properties to date have all submitted study data demonstrating that the products are expected to deter abuse. This work was guided by the 2015 final guidance for industry, Abuse-Deterrent Opioids — Evaluation and Labeling. As a result of FDA’s review, FDA-approved product “labeling” (prescribing information) for these medications clearly states the product’s abuse-deterrent properties. Other manufacturers have chosen to add what they may intend as abuse-deterrent properties to their product, but FDA has not seen sufficient evidence that these properties are effective and therefore the FDA-approved labeling for these products does not identify them as having abuse-deterrent properties. Prescribers and patients can look to our web site for the list of FDA-approved products with abuse-deterrent properties in their labeling.

It’s important to recognize that FDA refers to these drugs as “abuse-deterrent” not abuse-proof. There will always be some potential for abuse of these products. For instance, a patient can orally ingest a quantity beyond what is prescribed. It’s also true that people intent on abusing an opioid may find ways to overcome the abuse-deterrent properties of the drug that were not identified during premarketing research. With this in mind, FDA requires that any drug approved as having abuse-deterrent properties be further evaluated by its manufacturer after it is marketed. The manufacturer is required to conduct studies to evaluate the impact of the product on abuse in the community. If necessary, we may approve updated product labeling that describes the drug’s abuse deterrent features after approval.

Still, abuse deterrent technology certainly helps. That’s why FDA is looking at ways to encourage the development of abuse-deterrent generic versions of an opioid since none currently exist. We released draft guidance for industry in March and we’re looking forward to an interesting public discussion of the topic next Monday and Tuesday.

The FDA opioid action plan we issued in February involves a multi-faceted approach to reducing opioid misuse and abuse. And we continue to look for ways to make a difference. We recently announced we would help fund the development of assessment tools to evaluate packaging, storage, delivery, and disposal solutions, as well as product formulations, designed to prevent or deter misuse and abuse of opioid analgesics.

Support for abuse deterrent formulations is one important part of a strategy to help prescribers and patients make the best possible choices about how to use these powerful drugs. Our goal is to find the balance between appropriate access to opioids for patients in pain and the need to reduce abuse and misuse of these medications.

Douglas C. Throckmorton, M.D., is Deputy Center Director for Regulatory Programs in FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research