Indivior PLC (OTCPK:INVVY) (LON:INDV) published modeling data examining the competitive interaction between buprenorphine, a treatment for opioid use disorder, and fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid, to better understand how buprenorphine can reduce fentanyl-induced respiratory depression. The study entitled "Modelling buprenorphine reduction of fentanyl-induced respiratory depression" is available online and will appear in an upcoming print issue of JCI Insight, a peer-reviewed journal. The study was supported by Indivior.
This pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic study aimed at modeling the interaction of buprenorphine and fentanyl at the level of the mu-opioid receptor on minute ventilation under elevated carbon dioxide levels in opioid-naïve volunteers and chronic opioid users. Data used for modeling were from a clinical pharmacology study recently published in PLOS ONE. The main objective of the modeling was to characterize the effects of escalating intravenous fentanyl doses (0.25-0.70 mg/70 kg range in chronic opioid users) on respiratory depression compared to the intravenous infusion of either placebo or buprenorphine targeting plasma concentrations within the 0.2-5 ng/mL range.
