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Buprenorphine Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder: An Overview

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Abstract

Opioid use disorder affects over 26 million individuals worldwide. There are currently three World Health Organization-recommended and US Food and Drug Administration-approved medication treatments for opioid use disorder: the full opioid agonist methadone, the opioid partial agonist buprenorphine, and the opioid receptor antagonist naltrexone. We provide a review of the use of buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid use disorder and discuss the barriers, challenges, risks, and efficacy of buprenorphine treatment vs. other treatments. Although evidence from numerous studies has shown buprenorphine to be effective for the treatment of opioid use disorder, a majority of patients with opioid use disorder do not receive buprenorphine, or any other medical treatment. We review the different formulations of buprenorphine, including newer long-acting injectable formulations that may decrease the risk of diversion and improve adherence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Dr., New York, NY, 10032, USA

    Matisyahu Shulman, Jonathan M. Wai & Edward V. Nunes

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Matisyahu Shulman, Jonathan M. Wai & Edward V. Nunes

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  1. Matisyahu Shulman
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Correspondence to Matisyahu Shulman.

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Funding

Matisyahu Shulman and Jonathan M. Wai were funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse Grant T32 DA007294. Edward V. Nunes was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse Grant K24 DA022412 (PI: Nunes). The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article. Manuscript preparation and the decision to submit the manuscript for publication were the sole responsibilities of the authors.

Conflict of interest

Edward V. Nunes has served as an investigator on clinical trials for which Reckitt Benckiser Inc. supplied Suboxone, and for which Alkermes, Inc. supplied Vivitrol for study medication, and has served as a consultant without compensation on advisory boards to Alkermes, Inc. Matisyahu Shulman and Jonathan M. Wai have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this article.

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Shulman, M., Wai, J.M. & Nunes, E.V. Buprenorphine Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder: An Overview. CNS Drugs 33, 567–580 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40263-019-00637-z

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