Lifeboat Foundation

Researchers have developed a new class of pain relief that acts on an obscure nerve pathway, opening the way to a medication just as concerns have deepened around the US opioid addiction and overdose epidemic.

While any marketable pharmaceutical based on the discovery would still need to go through the long process of clinical testing, the compound appears to work as well as other opioid-alternatives, requiring a smaller dose and remaining effective for a longer period.

The research led by scientists from The University of Texas has identified a group of molecules that bind with a pair of nerve receptors, one of which has been a mystery until recently.