[tmp-20150107]

Buprenorphine has been available for as long as oxycontin. Subutex (the trade name) is sold on the street, and is a commonly abused drug in UK prisons currently, usually as fractions of a pill taken nasally.

Really, this patent is nothing to do with the drugs involved - even the idea of adding Naloxone isn't new, this is available as Suboxone, nor is the idea of sub-lingual administration. As far as I can tell what is being patented is administration in a gelatin-film matrix that dissolves very quickly, preventing diversion and resale on the street.

Remember that these drugs are not just handed out as a month's supply of pills like you would get antibiotics. Instead, they are 'supervised delivery' where the user must take the pill in front of a pharmacist. The fear is that if the pill takes 5m to dissolve, then it could be spit out and sold on once the pharmacy or treatment center has been left, so dissolving in seconds prevents this. Personally, I'm not convinced this is a problem except perhaps in prisons (see above) but then I'm also not convinced the idea is patentable...