Opioids News and Research

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An opioid is a chemical that works by binding to opioid receptors, which are found principally in the central nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract. The receptors in these two organ systems mediate both the beneficial effects and the side effects of opioids.

Pediatric pain experts discuss safety, efficacy of pain medications in children

Can we be certain that pain medications considered safe for adults, based on extensive clinical data and experience, are equally safe for use in young children? Pediatric pain experts discussed this question today in a panel session at the American Pain Society, www.ampainsoc.org, annual scientific meeting and agreed more short term and long-term clinical data are needed to provide assurances about the safety and efficacy of several pain medications in children.

21 May 2011

Naltrexone improves clinical, inflammatory activity in Crohn's disease patients

Naltrexone reduced inflammation in Crohn's patients in a research study at Penn State College of Medicine.

20 May 2011

Patients with sickle cell disease may require higher, frequent doses of morphine

Frequent episodes of severe pain occur in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) and require treatment with potent opioid medications. A new study published in The Journal of Pain reports that SCD patients clear morphine from their blood stream quickly and, therefore, require high doses to achieve optimal analgesia.

13 May 2011

Omeros' PDE7 program expands addiction franchise

Omeros Corporation today announced that its phosphodiesterase 7 inhibitors demonstrated robust efficacy in animal models of nicotine addiction.

6 May 2011

Hebei Aoxing Pharma receives Chinese patent for naloxone sublingual film

Aoxing Pharmaceutical, a specialty pharmaceutical company focusing on research, development, manufacturing and distribution of narcotic and pain-management products, announced that its operating subsidiary in China, Hebei Aoxing Pharmaceutical Group Company, has been granted a patent by the State Intellectual Property Office of The People's Republic of China for naloxone sublingual film.

3 May 2011

NeurogesX first quarter revenue is $3.2 million for 2011

NeurogesX, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing novel pain management therapies, today reported results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2011.

30 Apr 2011

The Lancet publishes phase 3 clinical study data on VIVITROL for treatment of opioid dependence

Alkermes, Inc. today announced that results from the phase 3 clinical study of VIVITROL® (naltrexone for extended-release injectable suspension) in opioid dependence have been published by The Lancet. The six-month, phase 3 trial met its primary endpoint and showed significantly greater opioid-free weeks among patients treated with VIVITROL, compared to placebo.

28 Apr 2011

Unintentional prescription opioid overdose deaths have reached epidemic proportions in the U.S.

Unintentional overdose deaths in teens and adults have reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. In some 20 states in 2007 the number of unintentional drug poisoning deaths exceeded either motor vehicle crashes or suicides, two of the leading causes of injury death.

26 Apr 2011

Convergence initiates CNV2197944 Phase I study in chronic pain

Convergence Pharmaceuticals Limited, the company focused on the development of novel and high value analgesic medicines, today announced that the first-time-in-man Phase I study of the novel, first in class calcium channel blocker CNV2197944, for the treatment of chronic pain has been initiated and dosing has begun.

22 Apr 2011

Feds announce comprehensive plan to combat painkiller abuse

The new strategy will put increased pressure on the state of Florida, which has a reputation as being "the nation's pill mill."

21 Apr 2011

Stepped up measures to tack rising painkiller abuse

Prescription drug abuse is one of the largest problems in the country say experts and according to White House drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske, the Congress must require special training for doctors and other health care workers before they are allowed to prescribe powerful drugs such as OxyContin.

20 Apr 2011

Covidien supports FDA’s REMS for important class of pain medications

Covidien (NYSE: COV), a leading global provider of healthcare products, supports the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for an important class of pain medications.

20 Apr 2011

Plans to combat painkiller abuse

This Tuesday, the Obama administration announced a plan to fight prescription drug abuse, warning that accidental fatal overdoses now exceed the combined deadly overdoses from the crack epidemic of the 1980s and black tar heroin in the 1970s.

19 Apr 2011

Nuvo Research to acquire ZARS Pharma

Nuvo Research Inc., a pharmaceutical company dedicated to building a portfolio of products primarily for the treatment of pain, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire ZARS Pharma, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

18 Apr 2011

QRxPharma receives new U.S. Patent for MoxDuo IR in treatment of acute pain

QRxPharma Limited announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued the Company a new patent, U.S. Patent #7,923,453, which expires in 2029. This patent covers a proprietary dosing algorithm for converting patients from intravenous opioid administration to orally administered MoxDuo IR, thereby more effectively and safely managing acute pain following surgery.

15 Apr 2011

New guideline on most effective treatments for diabetic nerve pain

The American Academy of Neurology has issued a new guideline on the most effective treatments for diabetic nerve pain, the burning or tingling pain in the hands and feet that affects millions of people with diabetes. The guideline is published in the April 11, 2011, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, and will be presented April 11, 2011, at the American Academy of Neurology's Annual Meeting in Honolulu.

12 Apr 2011

New experimental drug can help treat peripheral neuropathy in cancer patients

Although oncologists have made great strides in many aspects of cancer treatment, one area that has remained very difficult to treat is peripheral neuropathy, namely pain that can be caused by the cancer or by its treatment.

11 Apr 2011

Biological Psychiatry publishes Omeros' PPAR-gamma addiction program

Omeros Corporation today announced that research on the PPAR-gamma agonists it is developing in its Addiction franchise has been published in the April 1, 2011 issue of the Journal of Biological Psychiatry.

7 Apr 2011

Higher prescribed doses associated with increased risk of opioid overdose death

In an analysis of opioid prescription patterns and deaths, receiving higher prescribed doses is associated with an increased risk of opioid overdose death, but receiving both as-needed and regularly scheduled doses is not associated with overdose risk, according to a study in the April 6 issue of JAMA.

6 Apr 2011

Patients prescribed high doses of pain medications at higher risk of overdose: Study

According to a study published in the April 6 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association JAMA, receiving higher prescribed doses of opioid prescriptions is associated with an increased risk of opioid overdose death, but receiving both as-needed and regularly scheduled doses is not associated with overdose risk.

5 Apr 2011