The new painkiller used as a weapon against the opiate crisis

The approval of the FDA of a new class of acute pain drugs promises to be an effective weapon to limit the use of opioids.

In the United States, they say it is an epidemic and causes tens of thousands of deaths that could be avoided every year.

Overdose overdose from opiate painkillers caused over 80,000 deaths in the country in 2022, according to data from the data control and prevention centers (CDC).

One of the main causes of this problem is that these drugs are very effective in the fight against pain, which means that they have entered the relative frequency, although – at the same time – they have a high potential to generate dependence.

A new remedy for the treatment of acute pain, recently approved by the FDA that regulates the United States, promises to become an important tool in the fight against the opiate crisis.

The drug, called suzigina, will be marketed in the United States as Journavx. Made by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, it is part of a new type of pain reliever that modulates the pain signal on the emission site instead of brain receptors, as opioids do.

This, the experts say, would eliminate the risk of dependence and dependence associated with the use of opioids, especially in acute pain, such as surgery or accidents.

“Approval is an important milestone in the treatment of acute pain,” said Jacqueline Correigan-Cucuay, director of the FDA medicinal assessment and research center.

“A new non -opioid analgesic therapy class offers the opportunity to mitigate certain risks associated with the use of opioid for pain and offers another option for patients.”

Approval is the first in over 20 years for a new type of pain reliever, which shows the difficulties that scientists face in the treatment of pain.

In Brazil, opioids are already circulating in the illegal parallel market, outside the hands of patients with adequate prescriptions and the hospital environment.

In 2019, a Fiocruz survey (Ospaldo Cruz Foundation) showed that 4.4 million Brazilians have already used opioids without a prescription.

This illuminates a warning for the authorities to act in advance, preventing the dissemination of the improper use of these drugs and avoiding a scenario similar to that experienced in the United States.

A new mechanism

Over the past 30 years, Yale University Stephen Waxman has studied the mechanisms that the body uses to express pain.

His studies have focused mainly on the nerves of the peripheral system – those who communicate organs and arts to the central nervous system and then to the brain – and in the chemical molecules that they use to communicate signs of pain in the brain.

“The opiates act as a key and a lock inside the brain”, preventing the arrival of these signs, Waxman told the BBC News Mundo, Spanish news service at the BBC.

“The sacred glass of pain research was to find molecules in our peripheral nerves and be able to block these signs.”

With his Yale team, Waxman has experienced several compounds to block a molecule known as Nav 1.8, a sort of battery that allows nerves to send signs of pain to the brain.

Focusing on the signs to report, rather than on reception in the brain, many of the side effects associated with opioids are avoided.

“It does not touch the brain, therefore it does not have the side effects such as sleepiness, confusion, double vision or loss of balance and has no addiction potential. Therefore, it is really a great turning point,” says the expert, who is expert, that The expert, who is expert, who is expert, that the expert, who is expert, that the expert, who is an expert does not work for the summit, but is a consultant for companies that are developing similar medicines.

Although the approval of the FDA was for the treatment of acute pain, Waxman explained that it is not yet known whether these drugs can treat chronic pain or some specific pains for which there are few treatments.

The challenges of pain

Although the approval process of any medicine, from the research phases to the launch of the market, can require from 15 to 20 years, pain is a particularly difficult area to study.

“I think that the challenges associated with the development of pain medicine are superior to those associated with the development of a vaccine or a drug for inflammatory diseases or cancer,” says Waxman.

“It is possible to measure these diseases, do a blood test and look for biomarkers – molecular evidence of the presence of some diseases in the body. Pain is a subjective response,” he adds.

The expert explains that the measurement of pain, through questionnaires in which the patient is asked to define the intensity on a scale from one to ten, can lead to irregular results, since other factors, such as sleep or anxiety, can increase the perception of pain.

This is the reason why Waxman sees Suzitina’s recent approval as a milestone that expects to open the doors to new ways to combat pain.

“The work is crawling. We will only see your maturity between 10 or 15 years, but I really believe that we will have personalized and individualized pain therapies, based on the genome, at a certain point in the next 10 or 15 years.”

The fight against opioids

The arrival of suzigina and drugs that can arise after its approval in the United States can also be a mechanism to reduce the exposure of healthy people to opioids in medical situations.

This is due to its immense dependence potential: according to the data of the Massachusetts General Hospital, from 9% to 13% of patients using opioid pain relievers after surgery to make chronic use.

It is an alarming number, considering that only between September 2023 and August 2024, the United States have recorded almost 58,000 deaths per opiate overdose, despite enormous resources and programs to reduce the impact of this type of substance on the communities.

As part of his government policy, the president of the United States Donald Trump has used the imposition of rates as a tool to press China, Mexico and Canada to increase their efforts to prevent Fenanil from entering synthetic opiates in the United States.

But experts agree that new types of drugs, such as Suzitina, should be part of a long -term strategy to prevent healthy patients from entering a world that can hardly come out.

“The FDA has long supported the development of Pidio for pain treatments,” said the regulation agency in a note.

“As part of the FDA overdose prevention structure, the Agency has issued an orientation project aimed at encouraging the development of non -popioid pain relievers for acute pain and has granted subsidies to support the development and spread of the guidelines for Clinical practice for the management of acute pain conditions “he added.

Source: Terra

Ben

Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.