By Pat Anson, Editor

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new extended-release version of Lyrica for the treatment of neuropathic pain. Lyrica CR is designed to be taken once a day, instead of the two or three doses recommended for Lyrica’s original formulation.

“Lyrica CR was developed to offer patients an effective treatment option with the convenience of once-daily dosing,” said James Rusnak, MD, Chief Development Officer in Pfizer’s Global Product Development. “It provides an important option for patients and health care providers managing these often debilitating pain conditions.”

Pfizer said the effectiveness of Lyrica CR was established in a clinical trial of over 800 patients with neuropathic pain. Patients who took Lyrica CR had a 74% reduction in pain, compared to about 55% who took a placebo. The most common side effects of Lyrica CR were dizziness, somnolence, headache, fatigue, peripheral edema, nausea, blurred vision, dry mouth and weight gain.

Lyrica (pregabalin) is one of Pfizer’s top selling drugs, but the company will likely face strong competition from cheaper generic versions of pregabalin when its U.S. patent expires next year.

Pfizer is undoubtedly hoping that current Lyrica users will switch over to the new extended release version, which will have full patent protection for many years to come. The company did not release any information on the cost of the new drug, which is expected to be available in January.

Unlike the original formulation of Lyrica, which is widely prescribed to treat fibromyalgia, Lyrica CR is only approved to treat nerve pain caused by diabetic peripheral neuropathy and postherpetic neuralgia caused by shingles. But that won’t stop doctors from prescribing it off-label to fibromyalgia and other chronic pain conditions.

Pregabalin Under Scrutiny

The extended release version of Lyrica comes at a time when pregabalin is drawing new scrutiny from researchers and doctors who believe the medication is over-prescribed and being abused. Pregabalin belongs to a class of nerve drug known as gabapentinoids, which are increasingly being prescribed as alternatives to opioid pain medication.

 “We believe… that gabapentinoids are being prescribed excessively — partly in response to the opioid epidemic,” Christopher Goodman, MD, and Allan Brett, MD, recently wrote in a commentary published in The New England Journal of Medicine. “We suspect that clinicians who are desperate for alternatives to opioids have lowered their threshold for prescribing gabapentinoids to patients with various types of acute, subacute, and chronic noncancer pain.”

As PNN has reported, the World Health Organization and the FDA are also investigating reports that pregabalin is being abused. Addicts have learned pregabalin enhances the effects of heroin and other opioids.

“Reports indicate that patients are self-administering higher than recommended doses to achieve euphoria, especially patients who have a history of substance abuse, particularly opioids, and psychiatric illness. While effects of excessively high doses are generally non-lethal, gabapentinoids such as pregabalin are increasingly being identified in post-mortem toxicology analyses,” the FDA said in a recent notice published in the Federal Register.

The warning label for Lyrica CR will caution users that the drug can be abused.

“Patients should not drink alcohol while taking Lyrica CR. Patients may have more dizziness and sleepiness if taking Lyrica CR with alcohol, narcotic pain medicines, or medicines for anxiety. Patients who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse Lyrica CR,” the label warns.

Pregabalin is classified as Schedule V controlled substance in the U.S., which means it has a low potential for abuse.