Latest Opioid Stories

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Nektar Therapeutics' (Nasdaq: NKTR) President and Chief Executive Officer, Howard W. Robin, is scheduled to present at the upcoming 30th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco at the Westin St. Francis Hotel on Wednesday, January 11, 2012 at 8:30 a.m. Pacific time. The presentation will be accessible via a Webcast through a link posted on the Investor Relations, Events Calendar section of the Nektar website:...

New study provides support for a bi-directional pathway between non-medical prescription opioid use and opioid-use disorder due to non-medical use and several mood anxiety disorders Individuals suffering from mood and anxiety disorders such as bipolar, panic disorder and major depressive disorder may be more likely to abuse opioids, according to a new study led by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. They found that mood and anxiety disorders are highly...

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Dec. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A new study, released by the American Gastroenterological Association, shows outpatient clinics across the United States witnessed opiate prescriptions for chronic abdominal pain more than double between 1997 and 2008. Dr. Michael Lowenstein, co-medical director for the Waismann Method, an advanced procedure for rapid opiate detox, warns that this increase signals the gaining popularity of prescription painkillers...

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Thirty years after the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, researchers, health care professionals, philanthropic organizations and others still work tirelessly to bring relief and hope to those affected by the disease. FHSSA, which began as the Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa, is one such organization working to improve the lives of those living with HIV/AIDS, focusing primarily on palliative care and improving pain...

Across U.S. outpatient clinics between 1997 and 2008, opioid prescriptions for chronic abdominal pain more than doubled, according to a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. Chronic abdominal pain is a common symptom and a frequent reason for health-care visits. Because it is often incurable, clinicians often find it challenging to help their patients manage their abdominal pain over time. "Opioid use...

BOONTON, N.J., Nov. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Unigene Laboratories, Inc. (OTCBB: UGNE), a leader in the design, delivery, manufacture and development of peptide-based therapeutics, today announced that Cara Therapeutics commenced the Phase 1 study of its oral proprietary peptide-based, investigational drug, CR845, a novel peripherally-acting kappa opioid agonist in healthy volunteers. CR845 oral capsules were formulated using Unigene's validated, proprietary peptide manufacturing...

CAMBRIDGE, England, November 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Phase I Single Dose Study Data Demonstrate Ideal Pharmacokinetic Profile and Excellent Safety and Tolerability Convergence Pharmaceuticals Limited ("Convergence"), the company focused on the development of novel and high value analgesic medicines, today announces that the multiple ascending dose Phase I study of the novel, first in class calcium channel blocker CNV2197944, for the treatment of chronic pain has been...

Research includes drug and non-drug interventions Scientists are discovering promising approaches to treating pain, one of the most common and debilitating neurological complaints, according to research released today at Neuroscience 2011, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news about brain science and health. Studies show that "mirror box therapy" can help reduce arthritis-related pain, and that a new opioid-like drug may be able...

RALEIGH, N.C., Nov. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. (Nasdaq: BDSI) announced that it has initiated a confirmatory pharmacokinetic study of a formulation of buprenorphine and naloxone utilizing BDSI's patented BioErodible MucoAdhesive (BEMA) drug delivery technology. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110217/CL49801LOGO) The study, BNX-102, will be used to select the final doses of BEMA Buprenorphine/Naloxone to be used in the pivotal...

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ: ALKS) today presented positive results from a long-term study of VIVITROL® (naltrexone for extended-release injectable suspension) at the 24th Annual U.S. Psychiatric and Mental Health Congress in Las Vegas, NV. Results from the one-year, open-label extension of the six-month pivotal study showed sustained efficacy of VIVITROL, as measured by the number of opioid-free urine screens, in patients who received VIVITROL, in combination with psychosocial treatment, for a...