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Scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine and the Burke Neurological Institute have developed a groundbreaking drug that may provide relief for people suffering from chronic nerve pain, a condition that affects millions worldwide.
This new medication, unlike many existing treatments, is not an opioid. Early tests on rats show it effectively reduces pain without causing harmful side effects.
Chronic nerve pain, or neuropathic pain, is caused by damage to nerves outside the brain and spinal cord. It can lead to ongoing discomfort that is difficult to manage with current treatments.
Common medications like gabapentin, an antiepileptic drug, and duloxetine, an antidepressant, are often prescribed but don’t work well for everyone. They can also cause unpleasant side effects.
Opioid painkillers are another option, but they come with significant risks. These include addiction, severe side effects, and even fatal overdoses. The search for safer and more effective treatments has been a challenge for researchers and a pressing need for patients.
The new drug, named BP4L-18:1:1, works by targeting a specific cause of chronic nerve pain: overactive nerve cells. These cells become hyperactive due to unusual activity in certain proteins called HCN ion channels, which are found on the surface of nerve cells.
While targeting these channels could ease pain, doing so is tricky because they are also present in the brain and heart, where disruption could cause serious side effects.
Dr. Gareth Tibbs, the lead researcher, developed a clever solution. He modified a commonly used anesthetic, propofol, by attaching a chemical “anchor” to it.
This anchor keeps the drug outside the brain, reducing the risk of harmful side effects. Meanwhile, the rest of the molecule calms the overactive nerve cells, quieting the channels responsible for the pain.
The drug works like an anchored boat: the anchor ensures it stays in the right place, while the active part of the drug addresses the problem directly. In initial tests on rodents, the drug showed great promise, effectively reducing pain when taken orally as a pill.
“This new drug has the potential to change how we treat chronic nerve pain,” said Dr. Steven Fox, founder of Akelos, a biotech company involved in the study. “It addresses the root cause of the pain without causing harmful side effects. This is a new and exciting direction in medicine.”
If the drug continues to perform well in further tests, the researchers hope to move forward with clinical trials. Their goal is to bring this treatment to patients and offer a safer, more effective option for managing chronic nerve pain.
This research highlights the importance of innovative funding programs like the Daedalus Fund for Innovation, which helps early-stage technologies reach the point where they can be developed commercially.
Chronic nerve pain affects tens of millions of people worldwide, making this discovery a potential game-changer. For those who live with this condition, a treatment that works without harmful side effects could offer significant relief and a better quality of life.
The study was published in the British Journal of Anaesthesia.
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