Evaluating the abuse potential of extended-release polyethylene oxide matrix tablets

Prescription drug abuse is a major concern for public health, and the pharmaceutical industry has been working on controlling the ongoing opioid crisis by developing abuse-deterrent formulations to limit the abuse of opioids and stimulant products. One approach is to use polymers to make tablets more resistant to breaking, powdering, and extracting the drug which helps to deter the abuse of drug products via nasal inhalation and injection. However, it has been shown that after breaking abuse-deterrent tablets into small pieces, the amount of drug in the smallest particles is unexpectedly high, raising concerns about their potential for abuse.

To investigate this issue, computer modeling approaches were used to determine if the increased amount of drug in the small particles formed after grinding could result in a higher potential for abuse, especially through nasal insufflation. The results showed that the smallest granules had limited resistance to releasing the drug compared to the larger granules. Modeling approaches were also used to predict the difference in human plasma concentrations following nasal insufflation of different sizes of granules formed by physically manipulating abuse-deterrent tablets, and the smallest particles were shown to contain sufficient drug for potential nasal abuse.

This research highlights the need for additional evaluation of the retention of abuse-deterrent properties of drug products to ensure that they are highly effective in limiting drug abuse and misuse.