The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, is pleased to announce that lofexidine, the first medication for use in reducing symptoms associated with opioid withdrawal in adults, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Lofexidine, an oral tablet, is designed to manage the symptoms patients often experience during opioid discontinuation. Opioid withdrawal symptoms, which can begin as early as a few hours after the drug was last taken, may include aches and pains, muscle spasms/twitching, stomach cramps, muscular tension, heart pounding, insomnia/problems sleeping, feelings of coldness, runny eyes, yawning, and feeling sick, among others. The product will be marketed under the brand name LUCEMYRATM.
In 2016, more than 42,000 people died from an opioid overdose, or approximately 115 people per day. Although effective treatments exist for opioid addiction, painful and difficult withdrawal is one of the reasons treatment fails, and relapse occurs. By alleviating symptoms associated with opioid withdrawal, LUCEMYRA could help patients complete their discontinuation of opioids and facilitate successful treatment. To date, no other medications have been approved to treat opioid withdrawal symptoms.
LUCEMYRA will be marketed by US WorldMeds, a specialty pharmaceutical company that acquired a license for lofexidine from Britannia Pharmaceuticals in 2003. NIDA provided funding to US WorldMeds to support clinical trials to document the clinical pharmacokinetics of lofexidine and to test medical safety and efficacy of the medication, as compared to a placebo, among patients undergoing medically supervised opioid discontinuation. LUCEMYRA is expected to be commercially available in the United States in August 2018.
Read FDA press release: FDA approves the first non-opioid treatment for management of opioid withdrawal symptoms in adults
Read NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow’s blog: NIDA-Supported Science Leads to First FDA-Approved Medication for Opioid Withdrawal
For more information about opioids, go to the Opioids webpage. For information about treatment approaches for drug addiction, go to the Treatment page
For more information, contact the NIDA press office at media@nida.nih.gov or 301-443-6245. Follow NIDA on Twitter and Facebook.
NIDA Press Office
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About the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): NIDA is a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIDA supports most of the world’s research on the health aspects of drug use and addiction. The Institute carries out a large variety of programs to inform policy, improve practice, and advance addiction science. For more information about NIDA and its programs, visit www.nida.nih.gov.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
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