2023-09-13 09:04:00
A vaccine should help fentanyl addicts with treatment in the future and prevent at least some of the deaths. The vaccine is scheduled to go into clinical trials early next year, as is another that works against heroin. “If the two vaccines prove safe and effective in these clinical trials, we hope to advance the development of a combination vaccine that addresses both opioids,” says University of Montana physician Jay Evans. The vaccines were developed in collaboration with several universities in the US, including the University of Washington and Houston University. Animal experiments with the innovative vaccines were successful.
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Fentanyl is actually supposed to help with dozing off in the operating room and relieve the pain of seriously ill patients. But the artificially produced opiate is also an extremely potent drug that quickly becomes addictive. Fentanyl is about 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Two milligrams – about a tenth of a grain of rice in weight – can be fatal. In the event of an overdose, for example when consumed through diluted heroin, breathing stops. In the United States, several people die every hour from a fentanyl overdose. In 2021 alone there were around 70,000.
The new vaccine is intended to stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies that attach to the fentanyl or heroin molecules. This prevents the opiate from penetrating the blood-brain barrier. The result: no high and no breathing restrictions.
Other opiates remain effective
It was important to the researchers that the effects of other opiates were not blocked by the antibodies. If the plan works, these can continue to overcome the blood-brain barrier. If necessary, doctors could give vaccinated people other effective opiates for pain therapy or anesthesia during operations.
The vaccines are primarily intended to help people who want to get off the drug. “The euphoric effect does not occur and the path to sobriety is not interrupted,” says Colin Haile from the University of Houston. Police officers could also benefit from the vaccination as a prophylactic if they accidentally come into contact with fentanyl.
Compared to other strategies such as nasal sprays with naxolone, which acts like an antidote, and substitutes such as methadone and buprenorphine, vaccination has several advantages, according to Haile. For example, vaccinated addicts do not have to repeatedly visit appropriate medical facilities and the recipe is more reliable.
Long road to approval
“Treating a psychosocial problem pharmacologically alone is of course not the solution,” says Heino Stöver from the Institute for Addiction Research in Frankfurt am Main. However, a vaccination could help, provided it works over many years, if possible for life. The addiction researcher also feared evasive tendencies. If the body requires a high, vaccinated people could also switch to other drugs.
It will still be a few years before it becomes clear whether and, if so, how much a fentanyl or heroin vaccine helps against addicts. First of all, the researchers want to show in their first clinical study that the substances do not cause any undesirable side effects in humans. Further studies on effectiveness will then follow. It is also important to find out how long the vaccination lasts and at what intervals it needs to be refreshed.
Vaccine developer Evans admits that there is still a lot to do before the product is approved. “But we are optimistic and very hopeful that the vaccines will be successful.”
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