A new formulation of dezocine, Cyc-dezocine, reduces oxycodone self-administration in female and male rats

•This work that builds on a limited but growing body of evidence that dezocine might be useful as a modulator of OUD.•Dezocine is not a controlled substance, and it has a minimum risk of addiction and of respiratory depression.•It is the most used medication for acute pain in China but is currently only administered intravenously (i.v.) at low pH for solubility reasons.•Here we show that i.p. or i.n. Cyc-dezocine, a new neutral pH formulation, reduces oxycodone self-administration in two different paradigms.•The data described in this manuscript are an additional step to determine if Cyc-dezocine can be a step-down treatment of OUD and/or as a safer analgesic than those currently used.