New Zealand researchers trying to find safer alternatives to addictive opioids such as fentanyl and oxycontin have received a $ 1.2 million funding boost.
The New Zealand Health Research Council has just announced more than $ 78 million in funding for a range of projects, including safe opioid research.
Research Trust from Victoria University of Wellington will receive the award to continue research on finding the most effective and safe compound from its new drug library for the treatment of chronic pain.
Legal opioid OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma has acknowledged its role in the opioid epidemic, paid $ 634 million in fines and pleaded guilty to contributing to thousands of opioid deaths.
Overseas, addictive opioids such as oxycontin and fentanyl have claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, and the latter has just caused a spate of overdoses in Wairarapa.
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Treatment of chronic pain in New Zealand was limited and varied considerably depending on the condition, but strong opioids were sometimes prescribed.
VUW’s associate professor Bronwyn Kivell and her research team used their grant to help develop the new drugs and use innovative technology to map pain in the brain and see how the drugs alleviate that pain.
“Current pain medications that target the mu-opioid receptor, such as morphine, fentanyl and tramadol, are addictive and ineffective in treating chronic pain when used long-term.
“They can also be fatal, targeting a part of the brain that causes breathing to stop,” Kivell said.
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Associate Professor Bronwyn Kivell of the Research Trust of Victoria University of Wellington and her team create non-addictive opioids to treat chronic pain.
Their new compounds targeted the kappa opioid receptor system, which differs from that of many current pain medications.
Kivell said this receptor was a cousin of the mu-opioid receptor associated with drugs such as morphine.
“Drugs that target the kappa opioid receptor are not as effective in treating acute pain as those drugs that target the mu-opioid receptor, and have therefore been ignored in the past.
“However, they are more effective than mu-opioids in treating chronic pain, often caused by nerve damage, and critically, they have no addictive properties or deadly side effects.”
Professor Sunny Collings, CEO of the Health Research Council, said there are many far-reaching benefits associated with developing effective, non-addictive pain medications.
“This exciting research has the potential to significantly improve the quality of life for those New Zealanders suffering from chronic pain and save lives by reducing the abuse of pain medication and associated drug damage.”
HRC’s $ 78.92 million funding round grant includes four program grants ($ 20m), five Rangahau Hauora Māori project grants ($ 6m), three Pacific Project Grants ($ 3.5m) and 41 general project grants ($ 50m).
Some major program grants include approximately $ 5 million each over five years for the following:
- Professor J. Abbott of the University of Otago for Reducing the Burden of Osteoarthritis in Aotearoa New Zealand
- Professor Alistair Gunn, University of Auckland, for pathogenesis, detection and treatment of perinatal brain injury
- Professor Beverley Lawton, Research Trust of Victoria University of Wellington for Manaaki Te Iti Kahurangi: Improving Outcomes for Whānau
- Professor Lisa Stamp, University of Otago, Christchurch, for Strategies to Improve Gout Management in Aotearoa