Fentanyl Vaccine Potential ‘Game Changer’ for Opioid Epidemic
hubie writes:
Study Suggests New Vaccine Could Prevent Deadly Opioid from Entering the Brain:
A research team led by the University of Houston has developed a vaccine targeting the dangerous synthetic opioid fentanyl that could block its ability to enter the brain, thus eliminating the drug's "high." The breakthrough discovery could have major implications for the nation's opioid epidemic by becoming a relapse prevention agent for people trying to quit using opioids. While research reveals Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) is treatable, an estimated 80% of those dependent on the drug suffer a relapse.
[...] In another positive finding, the vaccine did not cause any adverse side effects in the immunized rats involved in lab studies. The team plans to start manufacturing clinical-grade vaccine in the coming months with clinical trials in humans planned soon.
[...] "The anti-fentanyl antibodies were specific to fentanyl and a fentanyl derivative and did not cross-react with other opioids, such as morphine. That means a vaccinated person would still be able to be treated for pain relief with other opioids," said Haile.
[...] "Fentanyl use and overdose is a particular treatment challenge that is not adequately addressed with current medications because of its pharmacodynamics and managing acute overdose with the short-acting naloxone is not appropriately effective as multiple doses of naloxone are often needed to reverse fentanyl's fatal effects," said Kosten, senior author of the study.
Journal Reference:
Colin N. Haile, Miah D. Baker, Sergio A. Sanchez, et al., Pharmaceutics 2022. DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14112290
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