Label Update for Opioid-Induced Constipation Drug

Movantik (naloxegol; AstraZeneca) is among several medications with an updated indication broadening its use to include “patients with chronic pain related to prior cancer or its treatment who do not require frequent opioid dosage escalation,” according to a recent report in Pharmacy Times (August 7, 2017).

Movantik was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2014 for the treatment opioid-induced constipation in adult patients with chronic noncancer pain.

The FDA’s decision to update its labeling to include patients with pain linked with prior cancer or its treatment reflects increasing cancer survival rates, and the subsequent concern of how to help the 40% of patients who still experience pain after curative cancer treatment, Pharmacy Times reported.

With estimated rates as high as 40%, opioid-induced constipation is the most prevalent and persistent adverse event experienced by patients on opioid therapy.

—Jolynn Tumolo