Gottlieb Urges Transition to Abuse-Deterrent Opioid Formulations

The FDA strongly supports transitioning the opioid painkiller market toward abuse-deterrent formulations, Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told a Senate committee examining the abuse epidemic.

Gottlieb told the Senate Health, Education Labor and Pensions committee Thursday that the agency is working on final guidance for the development of abuse-deterrent generics, and that “potential future actions against products without these properties” are also being considered, according to his written testimony.

The agency is assessing the effectiveness of abuse-deterrent properties added during manufacturing — such as making pills harder so they are more difficult to crush into a fine powder — and tracking the results in the real world.