Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Aug 20;10(3):37517.
doi: 10.52965/001c.37517. eCollection 2022.

Buprenorphine and its formulations: a comprehensive review

Salomon Poliwoda  1 , Nazir Noor  1 , Jack S Jenkins  2 , Cain W Stark  3 , Mattie Steib  4 , Jamal Hasoon  5 , Giustino Varrassi  6 , Ivan Urits  7 , Omar Viswanath  8 , Adam M Kaye  9 , Alan D Kaye  10
Affiliations

Buprenorphine and its formulations: a comprehensive review

Salomon Poliwoda et al. Health Psychol Res. .

Abstract

Buprenorphine, a novel long-acting analgesic, was developed with the intention of two purposes: analgesia and opioid use disorder. Regarding its pharmacodynamics, it is a partial agonist at mu receptors, an inverse agonist at kappa receptors, and an antagonist at delta receptors. For the purpose of analgesia, three formulations of buprenorphine were developed: IV/IM injectable formulation (Buprenex®), transdermal patch formulation (Butrans®), and buccal film formulation (Belbuca®). Related to opioid dependence, the formulations developed were subcutaneous extended release (Sublocade®), subdermal implant (Probuphine®), and sublingual tablets (Subutex®). Lastly, in order to avoid misuse of buprenorphine for opioid dependence, two combination formulations paired with naloxone were developed: film formulation (Suboxone®) and tablet formulation (Zubsolv®). In this review, we present details of each formulation along with their similarities and differences between each other and clinical considerations.

Keywords: Buprenoprhine; analgesic; chronic pain; partial agonist; substance abuse.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. 1. Urits I, Pham C, Swanson D, et al. The utilization of buprenorphine in chronic pain. Best Practice Research Clinical Anaesthesiology. 2020;34(3):355-368. doi:10.1016/j.bpa.2020.06.005 - PubMed
    1. 2. Diversion Control Division D. BUPRENORPHINE (Trade Names: Buprenex®, Suboxone®, Subutex®); 2019.
    1. 3. Davis MP, Pasternak G, Behm B. Treating Chronic Pain: An Overview of Clinical Studies Centered on the Buprenorphine Option. Drugs. 2018;78(12):1211-1228. doi:10.1007/s40265-018-0953-z - PMC - PubMed
    1. 4. Urits I, Viswanath O, Petro J, Yazdi C. Building a Bridge Between Primary and Perioperative Care: Addressing the Challenges of Perioperative Buprenorphine Maintenance and Postdischarge Therapy. Ochsner Journal. 2018;18(4):305-307. doi:10.31486/toj.18.0146 - PMC - PubMed
    1. 5. Shulman M, Wai JM, Nunes EV. Buprenorphine Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder: An Overview. CNS Drugs. 2019;33(6):567-580. doi:10.1007/s40263-019-00637-z - PMC - PubMed