GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Researchers at the University of Florida have discovered a way to alter fentanyl, making the potent pain reliever safer.
Scientists at UF, in collaboration with other universities around the country, were able to modify fentanyl’s chemical structure to affect how it interacts with pain receptors and reduce the risk of respiratory depression and death.
“There was a team of superstars working on this at USC and Southern California that realized that there was a molecular switch inside the receptor that we could potentially take advantage of, and then the chemist out at Washington University in St. Louis designed a compound that could actually reach those sites and ended up with a safer response to the opioid receptor that would produce the analgesic we need to treat pain without the liabilities that we’re seeing like that respiratory depression,” said study co-author Dr. Jay McLaughlin with the UF College of Pharmacy.
He said the research can be expanded to target other receptors, which may lead to improvements in medications for substance abuse, mood disorders and other health conditions.
And this week, an FDA advisory committee endorsed over-the-counter sales of the overdose reversal drug Narcan.
The recommendation would make the nasal spray used to counteract fentanyl and opioid overdoses more accessible to consumers who could buy the medication at stores without a prescription or pharmacist’s recommendation.
The FDA usually follows its advisory committee’s recommendations, but is not obligated to do so.
The federal agency is expected to decide by March 29.