Snail venom "a powerful painkiller"

Snail venom "a powerful painkiller"
http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2013/04/22/1226625/723242-130422-snail.jpg

Conotoxin, the active ingredient of the new drug, comes from snails. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

AN EXPERIMENTAL drug made from snail venom has shown early signs of promise in numbing pain, raising hopes in the hunt for a new, non-addictive medications.

The drug, which has not been tested yet on humans, was judged to be about 100 times more potent than morphine or gabapentin, which are currently considered the gold standard for chronic nerve pain.

The active ingredient, conotoxin, comes from carnivorous cone snails, which are common in the western Pacific and Indian Ocean.

The marine animals can reach out and stab prey, injecting a venom that paralyzes fish long enough for the snail to eat it up.

A tiny protein derived from the snail’s venom has formed the basis of five new experimental compounds, said lead researcher David Craik of the University of Queensland in Australia.

A preliminary study using one of these new compounds on lab rats “appeared to significantly reduce pain,” said a press statement released ahead of Craik’s presentation at an American Chemical Society meeting in Dallas, Texas.

“This is an important incremental step that could serve as the blueprint for the development of a whole new class of drugs capable of relieving one of the most severe forms of chronic pain that is currently very difficult to treat,” said Craik.

Animal venoms are poisons that can block certain channels in the nervous system, and act differently than opioid painkillers such as morphine and hydrocodone, which carry the risk of addiction and death from overdose.

Pharmaceutical companies have begun investigating venoms in recent years as potential sources of new drugs for managing neuropathic pain, which affects 15 percent of the US population and can arise from cancer, AIDS, diabetes, and other debilitating diseases.

One conotoxin-derived drug, ziconotide, has already been approved for human use. However, it is not available in pill form and must be infused directly into the lower part of the spinal cord.

The five new compounds Craik and colleagues are developing would be taken orally.

“We don’t know about side effects yet, as it hasn’t been tested in humans. But we think it would be safe,” Craik said, adding that human trials are at least two years away.

NEWS.com.au | Technology News

Read more about Snail venom "a powerful painkiller" and other interesting subjects concerning Technology at TheDailyNewsReport.com

There Might Be A Big Corruption Scandal Surrounding America"s Dangerous New Painkiller

Ever since a coalition of doctors came out against the controversial new painkiller Zohydro, health officials have been questioning how the drug got approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the first place.

Now, two senators are questioning the ethics of a series of meetings between drug companies and federal regulators, MedPage Today reports.

Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and David Vitter (R-La.) want answers about what they call “pay-to-play” meetings in which pharmaceutical manufacturers allegedly shelled out thousands of dollars to meet with FDA officials who oversee safety regulations on painkillers. The senators suggest these meetings might have helped Zohydro get approved by the FDA despite an advisory committee voting against it.

The FDA approved Zohydro in the fall, and it’s expected to be available to patients with chronic pain starting in March. Dozens of doctors and addiction treatment groups are calling for the FDA to revoke its approval of the drug, which they say is deadly and could lead to another spike in opioid addiction.

Opponents of the drug argue that it will be prone to abuse because the pills contain a high dose of hydrocodone, a narcotic that has effects similar to heroin, and they’re reportedly easy to crush or chew for addicts who want to get a strong high quickly.

The senators want to see financial records — including any payment transfers — for groups connected to the University of Rochester that reportedly set up the meetings between drug company representatives and FDA officials, according to MedPage Today.

Zohydro’s initial manufacturer, Elan (now Alkermes), reportedly paid to send a representative to these private meetings. (The drug is marketed in the U.S. by a third company, Zogenix.)

In their letter, the senators allege these meetings gave the drug companies “undue influence over FDA’s approval process for prescription painkillers.”

University of Rochester Medical Center spokesman Christopher DiFrancesco denied to MedPage Today that these were “pay-to-play” meetings. He said participants were not allowed to discuss specific drugs and that the meetings had no bearing on the FDA’s decisions about whether or not to approve certain drugs.

Join the conversation about this story »

Politics

There Might Be A Big Corruption Scandal Surrounding America"s Dangerous New Painkiller