Partnership promotes noninvasive therapeutic to treat opioid use disorder

Spark Biomedical has announced a partnership with AcuityMD to promote Spark’s noninvasive therapeutic to treat withdrawal symptoms associated with opioid use disorder.

According to a release issued by Acuity, Spark’s FDA-approved Sparrow Therapy System is a drug-free, patient-controlled tool featuring an earpiece that sends mild electrical impulses to the brain to help alleviate opiate withdrawal symptoms.

According to the CDC, overdose deaths involving prescription opioids increased more than 20% in 2020, widely attributed to pandemic-related mental health issues. In addition, the release said, growth in drug use has caused overdose deaths from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, which increased by more than 50% from 2019 to 2020.

Spark’s novel therapeutic aims to aid the detoxification process. After 60 minutes of therapy with Sparrow, 84% of participants experienced mild to no withdrawal symptoms, and 100% of patients sustained a clinically meaningful reduction in opioid withdrawal after 2 days of treatment, according to the release.

“In the treatment of substance abuse disorders, we need to address the entire continuum of care,” Dan Wagner, chief commercial officer for Spark Biomedical, stated in the release. “It is difficult to identify optimal channels for product adoption, so we are taking every effort to understand the treating physicians, therapists, rehab facilities, caregivers, and patients.”

Sparrow is utilized in more than two dozen rehabilitation facilities nationwide, but the company aspires to increase market penetration in tandem with AcuityMD.

“Spark Biomedical is working tirelessly to help end the opioid epidemic in America, so we consider it very high praise to be chosen as their partner,” Michael Monovoukas, CEO and co-founder of AcuityMD, said in the release.