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January 20, 2008 - |
No Pain, No Gain
U researcher may have the solution for people suffering from chronic pain.
Philip Portoghese, medicinal chemistry
Pain relief for chronic conditions like cancer, diabetic neuropathy, lower back pain, and sickle cell is a worldwide concern. The American Pain Society estimates the substantial socioeconomic costs of inadequate treatment of chronic pain lead to the loss of tens of billions of dollars annually. There are many treatments available for pain relief, but some of the most effective treatments rely on the use of opioid analgesics.
Opioid analgesics, also referred to as narcotic analgesics, can be used to relieve pain from a variety of chronic conditions and they are also used in labor and delivery as well as before or during surgery. Despite the effectiveness of these therapeutics for treating pain, concerns about addiction as well as GI side effects limit their use.
Distinguished University professor of medicinal chemistry Philip Portoghese may have the solution to alleviate the pain and the concerns about the use of opioids. Dr. Portoghese has developed a series of compounds with the potential to be the first “narcotic” analgesic to control moderate to severe pain without critical problems such as addiction and tolerance to medication. These new compounds have the additional benefit to potentially avoid GI side-effects such as nausea and constipation.
The Office for Technology Commercialization awarded this research project an Innovation Grant to provide translational research funding for pre-clinical drug and animal testing models. Innovation Grants are part of OTC’s new model of investing in and supporting early-stage technologies to move them to a more commercially viable point to benefit the public, the University, and the economy.
By Andria Peters