Elite Pharmaceuticals granted new patent for Abuse Deterrent technology

This patent expands the intellectual property for the Company’s opioid abuse deterrent technology. Elite now has three US patents and one Canadian patent issued in this area with additional patents pending in the US, Canada and Europe.

Elite president and CEO Nasrat Hakim noted that the company is pleased with this additional patent coverage.

"Elite’s abuse deterrent program has made significant progress. In December, a successful pilot bioequivalence study for ELI-201 was completed and in January a successful pivotal bioequivalence study for ELI-200 was completed. These products are the first of our many abuse deterrent opioid products under development," Hakim added.

Elite’s abuse deterrent products utilize the Company’s proprietary pharmacological abuse deterrent technology. Elite’s abuse deterrent technology is a multi-particulate capsule which contains an opioid agonist in addition to naltrexone, an opioid antagonist.

Naltrexone is an opioid receptor antagonist used primarily in the management of alcohol dependence and opioid dependence. When this product is taken as intended, the naltrexone is designed to pass through the body unreleased while the opioid agonist releases over time providing therapeutic pain relief for which it is prescribed.

If the multi-particulate beads are crushed, the opioid antagonist, naltrexone, is designed to release. The absorption of the naltrexone is intended to block the euphoria by preferentially binding to same receptors in the brain as the opioid agonist and thereby reducing the incentive for abuse or misuse by recreational drug abusers.