Grunenthal GmbH Release; Assessment of Abuse-Deterrent and Tamper-Resistant Technologies: From the Bench-Top to the Users

BEDMINSTER, N.J., June 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- During this year's 74th Annual Meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) taking place from June 9-14, 2012 in Palm Springs, CA, Marta Sokolowska, Director of The Center of Excellence for Abuse Liability at Grunenthal USA, Inc., together with Kerri A. Schoedel (INC Research Toronto), will co-chair a workshop assessing abuse and tamper resistant technologies.

Prescription drug abuse is a multifaceted problem and one of the major public health concerns in the United States today. In January 2012, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) called prescription drug overdose deaths a national epidemic. Multiple abuse deterrent formulations are currently under development, and few are implemented to address this issue.

The workshop, scheduled for Sunday, June 10, 2012 from 8:00-10:00 p.m. PDT, will provide input on the scientific evaluation of abuse deterrent formulations including in vitro, human abuse liability and epidemiological studies, as well as the regulatory perspective on such formulations. The following individuals will be speaking during the workshop:

• Edward J. Cone (Pinney Associates, Bethesda, MD) will talk about in vitro assessment of abuse-deterrent formulations
• Megan Shram (INC Research and University of Toronto, ON/Canada) will extend on the clinical assessment of abuse-deterrent formulations
• Simon Budman (Inflexxion, Newton, MA) will present on results from clinical trials and epidemiologic studies for confirmation of abuse deterrence
• Michael Klein (Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD) will provide a view on the regulatory perspective on abuse-deterrent formulations

The workshop will be concluded by a panel discussion led by Kerri A. Schoedel (INC Research and University of Toronto, ON/Canada).

About Grunenthal
The Grunenthal Group is an independent, family-owned, international research-based pharmaceutical company headquartered in Aachen, Germany. Building on its unique position in pain, its objective is to become the most patient-centric company and thus to be a leader in therapy innovation. Grunenthal is one of the last five research-oriented pharmaceutical corporations with headquarters in Germany which sustainably invests in research and development. These investments amounted to about 25 percent of revenues in 2011. Grunenthal's research and development strategy concentrates on select fields of therapy and state-of-the-art technologies. We focus on the intensive search for new ways to treat pain better, more effectively and with fewer side-effects than before. Altogether, the Grunenthal Group has affiliates in 26 countries worldwide. Grunenthal products are sold in more than 155 countries and today approximately 4,200 employees are working for the Grunenthal Group worldwide. In 2011, Grunenthal achieved revenues of euro 947 mn.

SOURCE Grunenthal