FDA Approves AstraZeneca’s Movantik For Opioid-Induced Constipation in Adults

The Food and Drug Administration Sept. 16 approved Movantik (naloxegol), an oral treatment for opioid-induced constipation in adults with chronic noncancer pain.

Opioids reduce the gastrointestinal tract’s motility, making bowel movements difficult and causing patients to strain, have hard or lumpy stools or experience a sensation of incomplete evacuation, the agency said. Movantik, which is made by U.K.-based AstraZeneca, belongs to a class of drugs called peripherally acting opioid receptor antagonists, which are used to decrease the constipating effects of opioids.

“Supportive care products such as Movantik can lessen the constipating side effects of opioids,” Julie Beitz, director of the ...