NIDA Boosts Research and Development of Medical Devices for Substance use Disorder via the NIH Blueprint MedTech Initiative

• Published in: Substance use & misuse Vol. 58; no. 5; pp. 735 - 738
• Main Authors: Kostov, Yordan, Angelone, Leonardo, Gutowski, Stacie, Koustova, Elena
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis 2023; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Clinical research; Clinical trials; device development; diagnostics; Drug abuse; Drug Overdose; Drug use; Drugs; Experts; Humans; Medical equipment; Medical supplies; Medicine; National Institute on Drug Abuse (U.S.); Optimization; R&D; regulated devices; Research & development; Research subjects; research support; Staffing; Substance abuse; Substance use disorder; Substance-Related Disorders - diagnosis; Substance-Related Disorders - therapy; treatment; United States; United States; device development; treatment; substance use disorder; diagnostics; regulated devices; research support
• ISSN: 1082-6084; 1532-2491; 1532-2491
• DOI: 10.1080/10826084.2023.2184209

Background: Deaths from drug overdose have reached a crisis level, with more than 100,000 reported from April 2020 to April 2021. Novel approaches to address it are urgently needed. Objectives: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is leading novel comprehensive efforts to develop safe and effective products that address the needs of the citizens affected by SUD. NIDA aims to support research and development of medical devices intended to monitor, diagnose, or treat substance use disorders. Results: NIDA participates in Blueprint MedTech program is part of the large NIH Blueprint for Neurological Research Initiative. It supports the research and development of new medical devices through product optimization, pre-clinical testing, and human subject studies, including clinical trials. The program is structured in two main components - Blueprint MedTech Incubator and Blueprint MedTech Translator. It offers free to the researcher services that are typically unavailable in academic environment - business expertise facilities and staffing to successfully develop minimum viable devices, pre-clinical bench testing, clinical studies, planning and executing in manufacturing, as well as regulatory expertise. Conclusions: Through Blueprint MedTech, NIDA provides innovators with expanded resources to ensure the success of the research.