In France, where buprenorphine prescription by general practitioners and dispensed by pharmacies has been permitted since the mid-1990s as a response to HIV and overdose risk. Deaths caused by heroin overdose were reduced by four-fifths between 1994 and 2002, and  incidence of AIDS among people who inject drugs in France fell from 25% in the mid-1990s to 6% in 2010. Brand names
Buprenorphine is available under the trade names Cizdol, Brixadi (weekly and monthly depot injections approved in the US by FDA for addiction treatment in 2020), Suboxone (with naloxone), Subutex (typically used for opioid use disorder), Zubsolv, Bunavail,  Buvidal (weekly and monthly depot injections, approved in the UK, Europe and Australia for addiction treatment in 2018), Sublocade (monthly injection, approved in the US in 2018), Probuphine, Temgesic (sublingual tablets for moderate to severe pain), Buprenex (solutions for injection often used for acute pain in primary-care settings), Norspan, and Butrans (transdermal preparations used for chronic pain). In Poland buprenorphine is available under the trade names Bunondol (for paint treatment, when morphine is too little; amounts of 0.2mg and 0.4mg) and Bunorfin (for addicts substitution in amount of 2 and 8mg). Buprenorphine has been introduced in most European countries as a transdermal formulation (marketed as Transtec) for the treatment of chronic pain not responding to nonopioids. Veterinary medicine
It has veterinary medical use for treatment of pain in dogs and cats. Research
Depression
Some evidence supports the use of buprenorphine for depression.
Buprenorphine is an opioid used to treat opioid use disorder, acute pain, and chronic pain. It can be used under the tongue (sublingual), in the cheek (buccal), by injection (intravenous and subcutaneous), as a skin patch (transdermal), or as an implant. For opioid use disorder, it is typically started when withdrawal symptoms have begun and for the first two days of treatment under direct observation of a health-care provider. In the United States, the combination formulation of buprenorphine/naloxone (Suboxone) is usually prescribed to discourage misuse by injection. Maximum pain relief is generally within an hour with effects up to 24 hours. Buprenorphine affects different types of opioid receptors in different ways. Depending on the type of receptor, it may be an agonist, partial agonist, or antagonist. In the treatment of opioid use disorder buprenorphine is an agonist/antagonist, meaning that it relieves withdrawal symptoms from other opioids and induces some euphoria, but also blocks the ability for many other opioids, including heroin, to cause an effect. Unlike full agonists like heroin or methadone, buprenorphine has a ceiling effect, such that taking more medicine will not increase the effects of the drug.Side effects may include respiratory depression (decreased breathing), sleepiness, adrenal insufficiency, QT prolongation, low blood pressure, allergic reactions, constipation, and opioid addiction. Among those with a history of seizures,  a risk exists of further seizures. Opioid withdrawal following stopping buprenorphine is generally less severe than with other opioids.