Pain killer from cone snail to go commercial
[ UniNews Vol. 12, No. 20
3 - 17 November 2003 ]
University of Melbourne researchers have licensed Melbourne-based biotechnology company Metabolic Pharmaceuticals Limited to commercialise a potential non-addictive pain killer extracted from a toxic marine snail.
The compound, known as ACV1, is the outcome of a collaborative effort between a team led by Associate Professors Bruce Livett and Ken Gayler from the Universitys Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Associate Professor Zeinab Khalil at the Universitys National Ageing Research Institute.
Metabolic Pharmaceuticals plans to progress the compound immediately into preclinical toxicity studies.
ACV1 is likely to be initially targeted at those suffering neuropathic pain associated with diabetes, a market with billion dollar annual sales potential.
More than 60 per cent of the community will suffer from some form of chronic pain sometime in their life and the medical profession is crying out for alternative drug treatments, says Associate Professor Livett.
Scope exists for wider applications of this compound, including treating chronic pain associated with diseases such as cancer, AIDS and arthritis. It also has potential for treating sports injuries and infections, for example shingles. In tests on rats it has been found to accelerate wound healing where nerve damage has occurred, he says.
The research team extracted ACV1 from a species of cone shell, a beautiful but often deadly type of mollusc found in tropical waters near Broome, Western Australia. Laboratory studies have suggested the drug could be more powerful and longer lasting than morphine, yet unlike morphine, non-addictive and lacking the side-effects, namely sedation, nausea, constipation and respiratory depression.
|
|
