Rapid Outpatient Low-dose Initiation of Buprenorphine for OUD With Fentanyl Use

NCT ID: NCT06379984

Last Updated: 2025-08-29

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: PHASE2
• Total Enrollment: 60 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2025-05-08
• Study Completion Date: 2026-12-31

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if buprenorphine can be started for opioid use disorder with fentanyl use without requiring or precipitating opioid withdrawal. To be eligible, participants must have moderate or severe opioid use disorder and must have fentanyl detected on a urine drug test.

Participants will be admitted to a monitored research unit for the trial. They will be randomized to start buprenorphine with either standard initiation or with a new approach called rapid outpatient low-dose initiation (ROLDI).

For standard initiation, participants will be instructed to arrive to the unit with at least 8 hours since last fentanyl use. Once they have at least moderately severe opioid withdrawal (Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale [COWS] 11 or higher), participants will receive 2 mg, 2 mg, 4 mg, and then 8 mg sublingual buprenorphine, with doses every 2 hours. They will then continue 8 mg twice daily (or up to three times daily). This is the current standard of care.

For ROLDI, participants will not be required to have a period abstinence, they will have no or minimal withdrawal (COWS 4 or less) when starting buprenorphine, and participants will take 0.5 mg, 0.5 mg, 1 mg, 1 mg, 1 mg, and then 4 mg sublingual buprenorphine with dosing every two hours. They will then continue 8mg twice daily (or up to three times daily).

The main aim of this clinical trial is to assess whether ROLDI is safe, feasible, acceptable to patients, and worthwhile to study in a larger trial. The secondary aim is to describe fentanyl and norfentanyl pharmacokinetics (that is to say, fentanyl and norfentanyl concentration in blood and urine) during early abstinence to understand why some people using fentanyl develop precipitated withdrawal with standard initiation.

Conditions

Opioid Use Disorder

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Rapid outpatient low-dose initiation

Participants randomized to low-dose initiation will be instructed to arrive to the research unit without withdrawal. Participants with COWS \<4 will be admitted to the research unit to begin induction. They will be administered 0.5, 0.5, 1, 1, 1, 4, and then 8 mg as sublingual buprenorphine films with doses scheduled every 2 hours. They will then continue 8mg twice daily (or up to three times daily) as maintenance treatment.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Buprenorphine

Intervention Type: DRUG

Sublingual buprenorphine

Standard initiation

Participants randomized to standard induction will be instructed to arrive to the research unit with mild withdrawal and to have abstained from opioids for at least 8 hours, per ASAM Guidelines. Participants with COWS 4 or higher on initial assessment will be admitted to the research unit to begin induction.

Standard initiation will follow guidelines from the 2020 Focused Update of the ASAM National Practice Guidelines. Once participants have had at least 8 hours of abstinence and have reached COWS 11 or greater, they will be given 2 mg sublingual buprenorphine, followed 2 hours later by 2 mg, followed 2 hours later by 4 mg, followed 2 hours later by 8 mg. They will then continue 8 mg twice (or up to three times) daily as maintenance treatment.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Buprenorphine

Intervention Type: DRUG

Sublingual buprenorphine

Interventions

Buprenorphine

Sublingual buprenorphine

Intervention Type: DRUG

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Ages 18 or older
• Male, female, transgender, or non-binary
• DSM-5 criteria for opioid use disorder, moderate to severe
• Fentanyl positive on urine drug test
• Able to provide written informed consent in English prior to any study-related procedure

Exclusion Criteria

• Pregnancy or actively lactating
• Previously documented hypersensitivity or allergy to buprenorphine or naloxone
• DSM-5 criteria for substance use disorder other than opioid use disorder (e.g., cannabis, cocaine, alcohol)
• Current benzodiazepine use
• Urine drug testing at screening positive for buprenorphine and/or methadone
• AST and/or ALT >3x upper limit of normal or total bilirubin >1.5x upper limit of normal
• eGFR <30 mL/min
• Use of CYP3A4-metabolized agents such as azole antifungals, macrolides, and protease inhibitors
• High risk of severe medetomidine withdrawal based on drug urine testing for medetomidine, prior withdrawal syndrome requiring intensive care unit admission, and/or patient-reported severe nausea/vomiting during early withdrawal, at the discretion of the study physicians.
• Significant medical symptoms (e.g. severe respiratory insufficiency), psychiatric symptoms, or dementia that, in the opinion of the investigators, would preclude compliance with the protocol, cooperation in the study, obtaining informed consent, or ability to safely participate in the study
• Pending legal action that could prohibit participation and/or compliance in study procedures

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Pennsylvania

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Kyle Kampman

Professor of Psychiatry

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

University of Pennsylvania Center for Studies of Addiction

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

United States

Facility Contacts

Kyle M Kampman, MD

Role: primary

kampman@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

1 215 746 2764

Other Identifiers

855013

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id