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World J Psychiatr. Sep 19, 2021; 11(9): 543-552
Published online Sep 19, 2021. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v11.i9.543
Recent advances in the treatment of opioid use disorders–focus on long-acting buprenorphine formulations
Michael Soyka, Andreas G Franke
Michael Soyka, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Munich, München 80336, Germany
Andreas G Franke, University of Applied Labour Studies, Mannheim 68163, Germany
Author contributions: All written by both authors.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Michael Soyka, MD, Professor, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Munich, Nußbaumstr 7, München 80336, Germany. michael.soyka@med.uni-muenchen.de
Received: February 24, 2021
Peer-review started: February 24, 2021
First decision: April 21, 2021
Revised: June 6, 2021
Accepted: August 4, 2021
Article in press: August 4, 2021
Published online: September 19, 2021
Processing time: 202 Days and 17.7 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Although opioid maintenance therapy with methadone or buprenorphine is the widely accepted first line treatment in opioid use disorders (OUDs) the risk of diversion and low retention rates limit its use. While previous attempts to introduce long-acting methadone analogues have failed due to cardiac side effects in recent years, three different long-acting buprenorphine formulations have been developed and successfully studied in opioid users, two weekly or monthly depot injections (CAM 2038, RBP-6000) and one implant (probuphine). The prospects of these new medications are significant by optimizing retention and compliance and minimizing the risk of diversion. Thus, these novel medications can facilitate treatment of OUDs significantly.