buprenorphine
Adjunctive therapy • Brands: Subutex
Last reviewed: 2025-12-31
General information
- Class: Adjunctive therapy
- Common US brands: Subutex
- Therapeutic drug monitoring not routinely recommended.
- Last reviewed: 2025-12-31
Dosing & forms
- Forms/strengths: —
- Frequency: —
- Food: —
- Typical range: —
Mechanism (brief)
Partial μ-opioid receptor agonist used for opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment; reduces withdrawal and cravings and is commonly used for induction, with transition to buprenorphine/naloxone preferred for unsupervised maintenance when appropriate (label/guideline).
Metabolism & Half‑life
- Metabolism: CYP3A4 (N-dealkylation to norbuprenorphine), UGT (glucuronidation of buprenorphine and norbuprenorphine)
- Half‑life: Single-dose range 31–35 h
Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM)
Recommended: No
Monitoring highlights
- —
Sources
- BUPRENORPHINE SUBLINGUAL C-III tablet prescribing information — DailyMed (2024)
- The ASAM National Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder: 2020 Focused Update — Journal of Addiction Medicine (2020)
- TIP 63: Medications for Opioid Use Disorder — SAMHSA (2021)
- Buprenorphine maintenance versus placebo or methadone maintenance for opioid dependence — Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2014)