Purdue Pharma, a privately-held pharmaceutical company that conducts research on chronic pain conditions such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, recently announced results of follow-up data showing a reduction in opioid poisoning, abuse and addiction diagnoses after one year of treatment with reformulated OxyContin® CII (oxycodone HCl extended-release tablets).
In the study, the researchers examined data from medical claims of commercially-insured individuals. The results were presented last March 19-22 during the American Academy of Pain Medicine’s 31st Annual Meeting that took place at the National Harbor in Maryland, and have important implications for patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis, a condition for which OxyContin® is commonly prescribed.
Recent studies have shown that prescription of long-term opioids is becoming increasingly common. Surveys and open label clinical trials support the safety and effectiveness of opioids in patients with chronic pain.
In the retrospective study, the team reviewed the claims of MarketScan commercial insurance and evaluated the effect of reformulated OxyContin with abuse-deterrent properties with the goal of determining the rates of diagnosed opioid abuse, addiction and poisoning in individuals who took these analgesics. Results from the study revealed that there was a reduction of 29% in diagnoses in patients that were taking the drug alone.
According to a recent news release the results found were: A decrease of 12% in diagnosis of patients who took the drug with other medications, 29% reduction in diagnosis in those individuals who only took OxyContin, and 10% in those individuals prescribed OxyContin along with other opioids; the changes only accounting from OxyContin were different from those for comparator opioids; and among those patients who took other opioids in combination with OxyContin, the reduction in rate of the three diagnoses for OxyContin was different from other opioids.
According to the researchers, the findings are similar to those found in other surveillance programs, involving reports from poison control centers and surveys from substance abuse treatment programs. The company will continue to work on other epidemiological studies that were required by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA). The results from these investigations are being shared with the FDA with the scientific community through scientific seminars and publications.
