Theme: Clinical Research Year: 2021
Background: Opioid agonist treatment is effective for opioid use disorder (OUD), and newer extended-release buprenorphine (BUP-XR) injections represent a significant development. BUP-XR is expected to be associated with several potential benefits such as enhanced treatment efficacy and patient satisfaction. The Community Long-Acting Buprenorphine (CoLAB) study aimed to evaluate patient outcomes among people with OUD receiving 48 weeks of BUP-XR treatment and examined the implementation of BUP-XR in diverse community healthcare settings in Australia. Methods: Participants were recruited from a network of GP and specialist drug treatment services (n=100). Following a minimum 7 days on 8–32 mg of sublingual buprenorphine (±naloxone), participants received monthly subcutaneous Sublocade® injections at intervals of 28 days (−2/+14 days) and completed monthly research interviews. The primary endpoint was participant retention in treatment at 48 weeks after treatment initiation. Results: Participants comprised of 28 females and 72 males with a mean age of 45. All participants had a long-established history of OAT with heroin (57%) and prescription opioid (33%) being the predominant primary opioid of concern. The proportion of participants retained in treatment at 24 and 48 weeks following initiation of BUP-XR was 82% and 76%, respectively. Most participants (83%) reported that overall, they were extremely or very satisfied with the treatment at the end of study, primarily with the convenience, time, and planning requirements of BUP-XR. Conclusion: The CoLAB study was a real word implementation study of BUP-Treatment was successfully introduced into a broad range of clinical and community settings. The majority transferred successfully from oral to depot with minor AEs and there was high retention and treatment satisfaction over the first 48 weeks of treatment. Disclosure of Interest Statement: This Study was supported by an Externally Sponsored Collaborative Research grant from Indivior. Indivior contributed to the study design and analysis plan; Indivior had no role in collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
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