wirry1422

Endo has received final approval yesterday for its new extended and immediate release versions of the painkiller oxymorphone. The new opioid analgesic is being released under the name Opana. The full prescribing information is available at [url]www.opana.com[/url] Apparently Opana will be shipped in the next several weeks and will be widely available at pharmacies by August 1st. Opana Extended release will be available in strengths of 5, 10, 20, & 40 mg's. Also Opana ER is supposed to be "true" 12 hour dosing (as proven by two extensive double-blind placebo controlled studies in 3,000 opiate tolerant patients) because it uses a newly developed time-release mechanism developed by Penwest pharmaceuticals, rather then the antiquated "contin" system, which really only lasts 8 hours. Opana IR will be available in 5 & 10 mg tablets. I have not heard what the price for Opana will be, but i'm sure it will be at least as expensive as brand-name Oxycontin. But hopefully it really will be 12 hour dosing as claimed. One interesting thing in the full prescribing info is the conversion chart for oral opiates to Opana. It lists a conversion ratio of only 2 to 1 for oxycodone to opana and 3 to 1 for oral morphine to opana. I always thought the conversion for morphine to oxymorphone was at least 7 to 1, but maybe that only applies to IV/IM morphine/oxymorphone conversions. But they are certainly releasing Opana ER in strengths that follow a 2 to 1 conversion- oxycodone to oxymorphone. However, I am pretty excited about Opana, because it gives us Cp'ers a new tool to rotate into when we become tolerant to currently available meds like hydro/oxycodone, hydromorphone and morphine. Good luck to all, and whoever is the first to try Opana ER or IR, give us an update on your experiences.