The Food and Drug Administration is likely to take new actions on opioids that may be "disruptive" and "uncomfortable" to drugmakers, the agency's commissioner said Thursday.

In addition to seeking to treat opioid-addicted patients with alternative medications that don't produce a high, the FDA says it will look at ways to reduce exposure to the drug. That includes new ways of packaging and distribution.

"For example, it's possible that a defined, short-term supply of medication could be packaged in a manner that limits the number of pills dispensed," the FDA said in a statement Monday.

When asked whether drug companies would fight the new packaging guidelines, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Thursday "potentially," because it could cost companies more money to package the drugs.

"We're at a point in this crisis that we're going to have to think of ideas and taking actions that are going to be more disruptive and are going to be uncomfortable to some parties," Gottlieb told "Squawk Box." "But we have to take more vigorous action to get ahead of this."