Purdue Pharma to launch abuse deterrent Hysingla ER (hydrocodone bitartrate)

STAMFORD, Conn. — Purdue Pharma on Thursday announced that the Food and Drug Administration approved Hysingla ER (hydrocodone bitartrate) extended‐release tablets CII, a once‐daily, single‐entity medication formulated using Purdue’s proprietary extended‐release solid oral platform, Resistec. It is the first and only hydrocodone product to be recognized by the FDA as having abuse‐deterrent properties that are expected to deter misuse and abuse via chewing, snorting and injection. 

 

However, abuse of Hysingla ER by the intravenous, intranasal and oral routes is still possible.

 

Hysingla ER does not contain acetaminophen, the overuse of which has been reported to be a leading cause of acute liver failure in the United States. Prescription products containing hydrocodone and acetaminophen are both the most prescribed and among the most widely abused (nonmedical use) medications in the United States, Purdue Pharma noted. 

 

“The burden of chronic pain and the abuse of prescription medications are both pressing societal problems,” stated Charles Argoff, professor of Neurology at Albany Medical College and Director of the Comprehensive Pain Center at Albany Medical Center in New York. “Opioids are an essential tool in our arsenal of medical treatments options, so greater availability and use of opioid analgesics with abuse‐deterrent properties has the potential to help alleviate suffering among people with chronic pain while reducing the abuse of these medications," he said. "Furthermore, this product gives treatment providers the option to use hydrocodone without acetaminophen if they are concerned that their patients may be taking too much acetaminophen on a daily basis.”

 

“We are proud to offer healthcare professionals and chronic pain patients another treatment option,” said Mark Timney, CEO of Purdue Pharma. “Hysingla ER is the third product in our pain management portfolio to receive an FDA label describing its abuse‐deterrent characteristics. These innovations are an important step forward in helping meet patients’ needs while also working to deter misuse and abuse.”

 

Purdue expects to launch Hysingla ER in the United States in early 2015 — in dosage strengths of 20 mg, 30 mg, 40 mg, 60 mg, 80 mg, 100 mg and 120mg — to be taken once every 24 hours.

 

Hysingla ER is indicated for the management of pain severe enough to require daily, around‐the‐clock, long‐term opioid treatment and for which alternative treatment options are inadequate, the company stated. Hysingla ER is not indicated as an as‐needed analgesic. Hysingla ER is contraindicated in patients with significant respiratory depression, acute or severe bronchial asthma in an unmonitored setting or in the absence of resuscitative equipment, known or suspected paralytic ileus and gastrointestinal obstruction, and hypersensitivity to any component of Hysingla ER or the active ingredient, hydrocodone bitartrate.