FDA Panel Recommends Approval of New Oxycodone Formulation

By Emily P. Walker, Washington Correspondent, MedPage Today

An FDA advisory panel voted to recommend approval of a new formulation of oxycodone hydrochloride (OxyContin) that is more difficult to crush or dissolve, and which may deter drug abuse.

By a 14-4 margin, with one abstention, the panel recommended that the FDA approve Purdue Pharma’s application for a new, resin-coated formulation that it hopes will eventually replace the original version, which has been on the market since 1996.

Although there is no proof that the new formulation is safer, the panel agreed that making the pills harder to crush, chew, or dissolve into liquid may deter abusers. When the new version of the drug is dissolved into water, it produces a gel, which makes snorting the drug more difficult.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/Neurology/PainManagement/16132