Once-Weekly Oral Buprenorphine Formulation Shows Potential in Study

Lyndra Therapeutics, a Massachusetts-based clinical stage biotech firm, has announced results of a preclinical study on an oral extended-release buprenorphine capsule for the weekly treatment of opioid use disorder.

The capsule—LYN-013—is designed to provide consistent levels of buprenorphine over the course of a week. The study, which was conducted in collaboration with the New York State Psychiatric Institute, was found to enable average buprenorphine doses of up to 24 mg per day over a 7-day period.

Data showed that a single weekly dose sustained buprenorphine levels over the one-week dosing period and sustained suppression of opioid self-administration in an animal model. Findings from the research were presented at the College of Problems on Drug Dependence’s Annual Scientific Virtual Meeting.

“We are encouraged by the possibility of providing not just the first oral buprenorphine treatment, but to provide it as a weekly dosing option, which has the potential to be a game-changer for the two million people in the U.S. with opioid use disorder that currently face a lack of therapeutic options, limited access to approved prescribers, and strict therapeutic regimes,” Lyndra CEO Patricia Hurter, PhD, said in a news release.

LYN-013 is one of Lyndra’s two OUD programs supported by NIDA as part of the NIH Helping to End Addiction Long-term initiative.