Last month, Allergan said that rapastinel—the centerpiece of its $560 million acquisition of Naurex—had
failed in three pivotal trials in major depressive disorder. But not all is lost. Scientists at Duke University and Villanova University may have found a use for the drug in treating opioid withdrawal.
People who become dependent on opioids can experience excruciating withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, vomiting, diarrhea and insomnia. These symptoms often prevent them from seeking help, or they cause relapse in patients who do seek out treatment for addiction.
Rapastinel might help manage those symptoms, according to a new study by Julia Ferrante at Villanova University and Cynthia Kuhn at Duke University. The experimental drug substantially
reversed acute withdraw signs in rats in three days, the researchers said in a release. The study was presented at the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics annual meeting in Orlando.
There are FDA-approved drugs to treat opioid use disorder. Buprenorphine and methadone are commonly used to help eliminate the opioid cravings. But they are also opioids that can be abused, they can cause side effects and patients sometimes need to use them over the long term to avoid relapse.
Two other drugs, naloxone and naltrexone, are not opioids. But patients need to detox before they can use naltrexone, and naloxone is more appropriate for use in emergency settings to reverse opioid overdoses.
