Opioid Addiction (Market Access Dynamics in Opioid Addiction) | Physician & Payer Forum | EU5 | 2015
Probing Prescriber Preferences and Payer Strategies for Current and Emerging Agents in the EU5
Nearly 800,000 individuals were diagnosed with opioid addiction in the five major European markets in 2014. The treatment strategy for patients with opioid addiction consists of a combination of opioid substitution therapy and psychosocial programs, and it is not uncommon for patients to linger on methadone or high-dose buprenorphine products for years—effectively replacing one addiction with another. Indivior Pharmaceuticals’ (formerly Reckitt-Benckiser’s) Suboxone is the only opioid substitution product in Europe with remaining market exclusivity, although generic entrants in 2016 could improve market access to this formulation and shift prescribing trends away from opioid substitution therapies with greater abuse liability. Additionally, a long-acting depot injection of buprenorphine, if successfully developed, may offer lower administrative costs and improved patient compliance compared with formulations that are dosed once daily.
