KYOTO–Researchers from Kyoto University announced the development of a painkiller that relieves suffering more safely than fentanyl and other conventional alternatives.
They said the drug is just as effective as existent narcotic analgesic agents, commonly known as opioids, which are used to treat acute pain associated with disease, especially cancer.
The painkiller is expected to replace opioids because it is free of addictive properties and has no severe side effects, team members added.
“Our drug can eliminate pain without causing serious side effects like opioids, thereby allowing patients to remain fully conscious,” said Masatoshi Hagiwara, a specially appointed professor of pharmaceutical medicine at Kyoto University. “We will continue working to offer a fresh alternative to opioids for patients with tumors as well as those in severe pain.”
A drug discovery start-up is preparing to embark shortly on a Phase II clinical trial of the painkiller among patients in the United States to confirm the effectiveness of the drug.
Opioids, like morphine, are widely used in medical practice although under strict conditions.
Aside from being addictive, side effects include constipation and nausea.
In North America, opioids are prescribed so readily that it has led to sharp rise in addiction. Casualties from opioid overdoses topped 80,000 in 2023 in what was dubbed the “opioid crisis.”
To end the health scare, scientists have been trying to develop a substitute drug with analgesic levels comparable to those of opioids, but without serious side effects or addictive properties.
The Kyoto team took a close look at the specialized mechanism by which a neurotransmitter called noradrenaline is secreted to suppress pain in life-threatening situations.
They then identified the chemical that blocks the pathway controlling noradrenaline secretion. Taking advantage of the substance’s properties, the team was able to ease pain through sustained noradrenaline release.
The drug proved as effective as morphine in relieving pain in an experiment involving mice that underwent leg surgery or were treated to develop osteosarcoma.
Unlike with morphine, the drug did not induce anxiety-driven behavior or depression. No addictive properties were found in a study using rhesus macaques, either.
The team also tested the drug on 20 patients who underwent lung cancer surgery at Kyoto University Hospital. The results of the clinical trial showed that the agent helps lessen post-surgery suffering.
The team’s findings were published in the online edition of the Aug. 7 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, the official journal of the National Academy of Sciences.