Injectable MAT could offer a major breakthrough in opioid addiction treatment
The consequences of the opioid addiction crisis have burned through our forgotten rural communities in this country for decades now, and we should be open to virtually any and all novel ideas that come with scientifically evidential support. If our goal is harm reduction in the service of saving lives, embracing methods of harm reduction that incorporate novel opioid tapering schemes could be our best bet–and what better way to accomplish this than using a form of suboxone/buprenorphine that’s abuse-proof? Enter injectable MAT treatments with Sublocade.
Sublcoade offers an interesting path forward in combating the opioid addiction crisis in the US. It’s an injectable form of buprenorphine, which is an opioid that targets receptors in order to reduce cravings for other nefarious opioids. The goal of such an opioid addiction treatment is to use an injectable form of opioids to control cravings for abused drugs, like oxycodone and heroin, by binding to those very same receptors in the brain.
Currently Sublocade is having a limited rollout in different MAT programs throughout the country. Landmark Recovery is proud to be incorporating it into our MAT regimen via a monthly injection (once the patient qualifies for the program) that aims to virtually eliminate the possibility of drug abuse for an opioid drug. Difficult to get insurance companies to pay for it at one time, Landmark Recovery is pursuing a new program methodology that allows our patients to enroll in and receive these monthly injections as part of their recovery treatment.
According to an Australian study, those taking injected buprenorphine report greater satisfaction with their treatment regimen than those taking oral tablets every day or sublingual strips. According to a Clarivate article:
Sublocade is a drug-device combination product that uses buprenorphine and the Atrigel Delivery System in a pre-filled syringe. It is administered subcutaneously to patients who have initiated treatment with a transmucosal buprenorphine-containing product and who have been on a stable dose of buprenorphine for a minimum of seven days. Sublocade, at steady state, delivers buprenorphine at a sustained rate of at least 2 ng/ml over a one-month period, translating to mu-opioid receptor occupancy >/=70%, and achieved complete blockade of drug-liking effects for a full month in most patients in the phase II Opioid Blockade study. In a phase III trial, Sublocade demonstrated significantly higher abstinence rates compared with placebo (42.7% versus 5.0%) and outperformed placebo in both opioid presence in urine samples and self-reported opioid use. Significantly more Sublocade-treated patients completed the six-month study than placebo (64.3% versus 33.3%), and the placebo group experienced an increase in withdrawal symptoms and opioid craving versus baseline despite more than twice the rate of illicit opiate use in placebo patients as early as week 2.
With drug overdoses happening at a rate never-before-seen in our country’s history, new trails must be blazed. As a company, we are confident that our proprietary treatment programs will be some of the most successful and scientifically-informed in the US. Designing our treatments around the most cutting edge research allows us to remain a vanguard of addiction treatment.
If you’re interested in learning more about how we treat addiction at Landmark Recovery, give us a call at 888-448-0302 to speak with a professional. Don’t wait–unlock your potential and seize the day with Landmark Recovery.
