Other companies have also been showing an interest in such research as opioid overdose deaths continue to spike. 'I think we’ve reinvented the opioid molecule.'Įpiodyne, a company started by a research team at the University of San Francisco's School of Pharmacy, is designing a pain drug that wouldn't trigger a surge in dopamine, a chemical messenger in the brain that is involved in emotions like desire and pleasure. Doberstein, Nektar's senior vice president and chief scientific officer, told Business Insider. 'We have the possibility of being the first new opioid in almost 25 years,' Dr.

One of those companies is Nektar Therapeutics, which is currently studying a new drug candidate that enters the brain too slowly to cause the feelings of euphoria that many painkillers are known for. That's why a handful of companies are focused on creating an entirely new type of painkiller - one that won't get people hooked. Not only is it sometimes hard for these people to get their medications, the increased public attention around opioid risk has made some of them concerned about taking the drugs in the first place - or even having them in the house.

Those efforts seem to have had a somewhat positive impact on the rate of overdoses, but have left patients with chronic pain in a tough spot.

As a result, policymakers have tried to make the medications harder to get.

In the last 16 years, more than 183,000 Americans have died from overdoses related to prescription opioids. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.

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