Scientists have made a major step towards developing a non-addictive alternative to prescription painkillers.
The newly developed compound, called AT121, appears to deliver more powerful pain relief than morphine, but without being accompanied by the feelings of euphoria that drive addiction. So far, the drug has been tested successfully in rats and monkeys, and the team are carrying out final safety tests before human trials can begin.
“Opioids provide the most effective pain relief,” said Nurulain Zaveri, a member of the team who developed the drug at the company Astraea Therapeutics, based in California. “Unfortunately, the effective pain relief action comes with the risk of side-effects.”
Opioid addiction has reached crisis point in many countries, notably in the US where more than 60,000 people died after overdoses in 2016. Donald Trump has described the epidemic a public health emergency and concerns are growing about the use of prescription drugs in the UK.
This has created powerful incentives to develop alternative drugs that relieve pain but without the risk of long-term dependency.
The central scientific challenge has been that opioids work by binding to a group of receptors in the brain that simultaneously block pain and trigger the feelings of pleasure that make people want to take more of it.
The new compound, AT121, targets the same group of receptors, known as ‘mu opioid receptors’, that conventional drugs bind to. However, the new drug additionally targets a second group called the nociceptin receptors, which are involved in instinctive and emotional behaviours. This combined action appeared to dial-up pain relief and block the pleasure component.
When given at a hundred times lower dose than morphine, AT121 provided equivalent pain relief to an opioid. But when monkeys were given access to the drug, they did not seek it out or become hooked.
For more read the full of article at The Guardian
