Morphine sulfate hydrate/Oxycodone Hydrochloride Hydrate

In 1997, the Australian drug company QRx took out a US patent entitled, “Production of analgesic synergy by co-administration of sub-analgesic doses of a mu opioid agonist and a kappa-2 opioid agonist” for MoxDuo, a combination pill containing morphine and oxycodone.1 Early in its development, according to the FDA, QRx stated that its product “would provide a synergistic effect resulting in the need for lower overall opioid doses and an improved safety profile.”2 In a November 2012 memo referring to the results of a recently completed randomized clinical trial on MoxDuo, the company stated: “The 75 year search for a product having opioid efficacy without the typically associated adverse events has been compared with that for the Holy Grail.”1 The company was referring to a review of the history of opioid research in the British Journal of Pharmacology .3 The QRx memo continued, “To the best of our knowledge, MoxDuo IR [instant release] is the first opioid product to demonstrate a lower risk of respiratory depression in a clinical study comparing morphine equivalent (equianalgesic) doses. These important benefits provide the potential for …