Patent Review of Novel Biologics Targeting Opioid Use Disorder (2018-2024)

Drug overdose deaths in 2023 in the United States exceeded 107,000, with 80,000 of these deaths attributed to opioids alone. The emergence of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and its analogues have worsened the opioid overdose epidemic. A novel approach to treat opioid overdose and opioid use disorder (OUD) has been the introduction of biologics, which include monoclonal antibodies that bind to circulating opioids, preventing them from reaching the central nervous system, or peptides that have antinociceptive effects but lack the abuse liability of synthetic opioids. A challenge in the treatment of opioid overdose has been renarcotization, where an overdose patient revived with naloxone can re-enter an overdose state from residual opioid in the body. Biologics such as vaccines and monoclonal antibodies are excellent strategies that have been demonstrated to prevent renarcotization. In this review, we retrieved and discussed patents filed in the past six (6) years that focus on novel biologics reported as treatments for opioid overdose and OUD. We also provide a perspective on the use of biologics as therapeutics for OUD and opioid overdose.