Over 2.5 million people in the U.S. suffer from opioid use disorder (OUD), also known as opioid addiction.1 The Department of Health and Human Services has identified the development of effective treatment options as a top priority for addressing the ongoing opioid crisis.2
Medication-assisted therapy is a well-studied and widely-used approach to treating OUD. The goal of medication-assisted therapy is to combine medication with different forms of behavioral therapy to help patients slowly transition to an opioid-free state. Once that is accomplished, patients can continue to work towards achieving long-term abstinence from opioids.
Methadone and buprenorphine are the most commonly used drugs in medication-assisted therapy. Both target the mu receptor and can successfully alleviate withdrawal symptoms and drug cravings. However, both can cause gastrointestinal tolerability issues and cognitive impairment – common mu receptor-mediated adverse effects – that can deter patient adherence and interfere with their recovery process.3,4,5,6,7
Through a collaboration with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Trevena is developing TRV734 for use in medication-assisted therapy for the treatment of opioid use disorder. Similar to current standard treatment options, it targets the mu receptor, but with an optimized mechanism of action that preferentially engages the signaling pathway responsible for therapeutic effect, with reduced activation of the signaling pathway responsible for mu receptor-mediated adverse effects. There is nonclinical and clinical evidence to suggest that TRV734 is associated with less constipation than other common treatments.8
Program | Molecular Target | Therapeutic Target | Current Phase | PC | PH1 | PH2 | PH3 | NDA | Approved |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TRV734 | Mu receptor | Opioid use disorder | PH1 | PC complete | PH1 in progress | PH2 not started | PH3 not started | NDA not started | Approved not started |