By Dr Philip Koopowitz- Dispex & Hexagon6
Buprenorphine patches come in different strengths and not all manufacturers produce all strengths.
Many manufacturers provide dispensing doctor discounts, but only Aspire provide a discount via all
main wholesalers. When choosing a brand to dispense it is important to check that your wholesaler
offers a dispensing doctor discount. If not, order it from one of the other wholesalers.
The 5, 10, 15 and 20mcg patches all come in packs of 4 and there are 7 brands available. In 2021/22
alone 2,3 million prescriptions for 9,2 million patches were issued for these strength Buprenorphine
patches.
The following brands offer all 4 strengths – Butec, BuTrans, Reletrans and Sevodyne. Bunov, Pantitaz
and Rebrikel do not offer the 15mcg strength. To complicate matters, AAH only offer discounts on
Panitaz, Rebrikel and Sevodyne. Alliance offers discounts on Bunov and Sevodyne. PSUK offer
discounts on all brands.
Most brands will provide a much greater profit of prescribed generically and a discounted brand is
dispensed. To see the profitability of all the brands and strengths, please go to the brand Comparison
members’ only section of the Dispex website.
