Pubdate: Thu, 09 Aug 2001 Source: The Southeast Missourian (MO) Copyright: 2001, Southeast Missourian Contact: http://www.semissourian.com/opinion/speakout/submit/ Website: http://www.semissourian.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1322 Author: Chris Kahn, The Associated Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?186 (Oxycontin) OXYCONTIN MAKER GETTING PATENT TO REFORMULATE OFTEN-ABUSED DRUG ROANOKE, Va. -- The maker of OxyContin, a prescription painkiller linked to a growing number of overdoses and deaths, said Thursday that it has come up with blueprints for a "smart pill" that would be tougher to abuse. The new painkiller, which has yet to be named and would not be available for at least three years, would destroy its own narcotic ingredients if crushed into a powder and snorted or injected -- the typical manner in which OxyContin currently is abused. "Addicts and abusers are going to find this very undesirable," said Dr. J. David Haddox, senior medical director for Purdue Pharma LP of Stamford, Conn. "Before long they're going to say, 'Don't mess with that stuff; that's no good."' Alternative In Appalachia Purdue spokesman Jim Heins said the drug could become an alternative to their top-selling painkiller in areas like rural Appalachia where prescription drug abuse is especially high. OxyContin is a slow-release narcotic painkiller that is widely prescribed for victims of moderate to severe chronic pain resulting from such problems as arthritis, back trouble and cancer. One pill is designed to last 12 hours, but abusers usually crush the medicine and then snort or inject it, producing a quick, heroin-like high. The drug has been blamed for contributing to more than 100 deaths nationwide. Purdue, which has become the target of at least 13 OxyContin-related lawsuits in five states, says those estimates are unreliable and that in the vast majority of those cases, the victims were abusing other drugs at the same time. Like OxyContin, which was introduced in December 1995, the new drug would be for victims of moderate to severe chronic pain. However, it would be embedded with microscopic "beads" of naltrexone, a narcotic antagonist that counteracts the medicine. The beads would be coated with a chemical to keep them from dissolving, so the pain medication will work just like OxyContin if taken properly. But if the pill is crushed or chopped up, the coating on the beads would break, releasing the naltrexone and canceling the drug's effects, Haddox said. Purdue is still conducting tests on the new drug, which could be ready in three years. Officials have not decided yet whether to make oxycodone the active ingredient, or to include a different narcotic altogether, like morphine. Waiting On FDA If the Food and Drug Administration approves the drug, it would be one of only a few abuse-resistant drugs on the market. The first smart pill, a painkiller called Talwin NX, uses an antagonist called naloxone to achieve similar effects. Purdue has been criticized for not reformulating OxyContin to be like Talwin. Company officials decided against doing so, Haddox said, because they were concerned that naloxone might create a "ceiling" effect in OxyContin. Such a drug would not increase in potency past a certain point, even if a patient takes higher and higher doses. "We think this is a much more elegant solution to the problem," Haddox said. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager