Extended Release Drug Delivery Technology
The article by Dr. Siegel in the June 2005 edition of your journal [Extended Release Drug Delivery Strategies in Psychiatry: Theory to Practice. Psychiatry 2005 2005;2(6):22–31] was quite a relevant and 35 piece. I was particularly interested in the aspects that dealt with substance abuse treatment, which touched on the extended-release injectable form of naltrexone.
Another medication currently in the pipeline is a new, extended-release formulation of buprenorphine, which is a depot form. This depot formulation is an injectable solution that contains tiny biodegradable capsules of buprenorphine. As the capsules disintegrate, it is said that it would be slowly released over several weeks, and it would be administered once every 4 to 6 weeks.
Diversion of medications in substance abuse treatments, whether it be medications like methadone, benzodiazepines, or narcotic analgesics, has been a huge problem. Buprenorphine, a partial opiate agonist, was given FDA approval in October 2002 for treatment of...