Sydney | Monday
A PAIN-killer derived from the venom of a Great Barrier Reef shellfish 1 000 times more powerful than morphine could be available within five years, biotechnology company Medica Holdings Ltd said on Monday.
Medica said pre clinical trials of the pain-killer – which they claimed could help people with cancer, arthritis or Aids – would start this week, and trials on humans were expected within 18 months.
Medica said research firm Xenome, in which Medica has a 40% stake, had identified a molecule from the venom of a Great Barrier Reef coneshell, which could be used to treat neuropathic pain.
The coneshell is a marine shellfish that uses its venom to immobilise prey before ingesting it.
Medica managing director Kevin Healey said they hoped to market a pain-killing drug in five years.
Healey said trials on rats had shown the molecule to be extremely potent in the treatment of neuropathic pain.
”Neuropathic is a type of pain that’s experienced by cancer patients, arthritic patients or Aids patients where morphine is particularly ineffective,” Healey told reporters.
”This particular molecule is a thousand times more potent.”
He said the worldwide market for neuropathic pain-killers was worth about $1-billion dollars.
Healey said Xenome only needed one coneshell from which to get the molecule and would not be pillaging the reef for them. He said researchers sequenced the genetic blueprint of the coneshell and then chemically made the molecules they needed in a laboratory. – Sapa-AFP