Buprenorphine (or colloquially, "Bupe") is a semi-synthetic opiate with partial agonist and antagonist actions. Buprenorphine hydrochloride was first marketed in the 1980s by Reckitt & Colman (now Reckitt Benckiser ) as an analgesic , available generally as Temgesic 0.2 mg sublingual tablets, and as Buprenex in a 0.3 mg/ml injectable formulation. more

Buprenorphine (or colloquially, "Bupe") is a semi-synthetic opiate with partial agonist and antagonist actions. Buprenorphine hydrochloride was first marketed in the 1980s by Reckitt & Colman (now Reckitt Benckiser ) as an analgesic , available generally as Temgesic 0.2 mg sublingual tablets, and as Buprenex in a 0.3 mg/ml injectable formulation. In October 2002, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States of America additionally approved Suboxone and Subutex, buprenorphine's high-dose sublingual pill preparations for opioid addiction , and as such the drug is now also used for this purpose. In the European Union , Suboxone and Subutex, buprenorphine's high-dose sublingual pill preparations were approved for opioid addiction treatment in September 2006. In the Netherlands , Buprenorphine is a List II drug of the Opium Law , though special rules and guidelines apply to its prescription and dispensation. In the USA, it has been a Schedule III drug under the United Nations ' Convention on Psychotropic Substances [ 1 ] since it was rescheduled from Schedule V just before FDA approval of Suboxone and Subutex. In the recent years, buprenorphine has been introduced in most European countries as a transdermal formulation for the treatment of chronic pain. less