ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the development of drug delivery systems for use in the treatment of narcotic addiction. The goal of such treatment was the development of an implantable, biodegradable system which provided sustained delivery of naltrexone to human narcotic patients for 1 month. The chapter discusses the development of narcotic antagonists and reviews and evaluates the systems investigated as candidates for controlled release of these drugs. Narcotic antagonists are usually defined as chemical compounds which block the effects of opiate drugs. Narcotic antagonists will block the analgesia, the euphoria, and all the physiologic changes, such as pupilary constriction, produced by agonist opiates. Cyclazocine is a totally synthetic narcotic antagonist which is much more potent and longer-acting than nalorphine. Naloxone was a “pure” antagonist which did not produce the psychotomimetic effects of either nalorphine or cyclazocine.
