Pubdate: Thu, 09 Aug 2001
Source: Deseret News (UT)
Copyright: 2001 Deseret News Publishing Corp.
Contact:  http://www.desnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/124

RX DRUG MAY GET HARDER TO ABUSE - MAKER DESIGNS 'SMART' VERSION OF OXYCONTIN

ROANOKE, Va. (AP) -- The maker of OxyContin, a prescription painkiller 
linked to a growing number of overdoses and deaths, said Wednesday 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.' "

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 as directed.

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.

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.

Richard S. Weiner, executive director of the American Academy of Pain 
Management in Sonora, Calif., applauded the new formula.

"Hopefully, this will assuage law enforcement that ... painkillers can be 
safe," Weiner said.

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.

Purdue officials said the timing of the patent has nothing to do with 
lawsuits from people claiming they're addicted to OxyContin and others who 
want to hold the company responsible for illicit abuse of the drug.

This week, Purdue said it expects an international patent application will 
be published on their "sequestered naltrexone" technology, an initial step 
that expedites the formula protection process in some countries. Heins said 
the company also will seek individual patents in the United States, Japan, 
Europe and other major markets. On the Net: www.pharma.com; www.aapainmanage.org
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom