The U.S. FDA has recently given the nod of approval to Lucemyra, a non-opioid drug capable of reducing opioid withdrawal symptoms in adults. Sources cite that it is an oral therapy offered by the U.S. WorldMeds LLC and its approval is valid for treatments for up to fourteen days only.
For the uninitiated, opioid withdrawal signs include craving for drugs, nervousness, vomiting, diarrhea, sweating, and agitation. The application for this drug was provided with a priority review as well as fast track status, while an independent U.S. FDA committee provided support for Lucemyra’s approval at a discussion held in March this year.
The approval is likely to prove beneficial for U.S. citizens, as it has been granted at an appropriate time when the U.S. has been witnessing a huge opioid drug crisis. As per the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), overdose resulting from opioid drug consumption, including fentanyl, prescribed opioid, and heroin had caused deaths of nearly over forty thousand people in the U.S. during 2016. It has been speculated that the strategic decision of the FDA was based on the unmet medical needs of the patients unable to handle opioid withdrawal symptoms.
Lucemyra is an oral & selective alpha two adrenergic receptor agonist that lessens norepinephrine release. Healthcare service providers have asserted that norepinephrine activities in autonomic nervous system play a huge role in most of the opioid drug withdrawal symptoms.
To check the safety and effectiveness of Lucemyra, two random placebo-controlled clinical tests of the medicine were performed on more than eight hundred adults in the U.S, who relied on opioid drugs & were undergoing treatment for opioid drug withdrawal. The U.S. FDA has further emphasized that Lucemyra drug can help the patients in proficiently handling opioid use disorder as a part of their long-term treatment plan.
Medical experts claim that the food & drug agency of the U.S., having always promoted the development of innovative treatment methods, will look forward to reducing suffering due to addiction.