Modified Botox for Long-term Pain Relief

A team of scientists from the Universities of Sheffield, Reading, and UCL, as well as the US-based biopharmaceutical company Neuresta, developed a new, elongated botulinum neurotoxin that can relieve chronic pain without causing paralysis or addiction.
Chronic pain is exceedingly difficult to control, and existing medications have significant side effects. Opioids such as morphine and fentanyl are the gold standard for short-term pain management, but they cannot treat chronic pain successfully due to the danger of addiction, abuse, and overdose.
The new study’s findings, published in the journal Life Science Alliance, reveal that a single injection of the precisely tailored botulinum neurotoxin delivers long-lasting comfort in mouse models with no side effects.

The team, led by Professor Bazbek Davletov, Chair of Biomedical Science, and Research Associate Charlotte Leese from the University of Sheffield, created a biopharmaceutical with new properties and no unwanted toxic effects by rebuilding Botox with elements from Clostridium botulinum.

The researchers were able to synthesize Botox in an ideal elongated configuration and then put it back together in a Lego-like fashion by breaking it down into two different components.

Professor Davletov, from the University of Sheffield’s School of Biosciences, said, “Currently, painkillers can only relieve chronic pain temporarily and often have unwanted side effects.”

“A single injection of the new nonparalytic blocker at the site of pain could potentially relieve pain for many months in humans and this now needs to be tested.”

“We hope that the engineered drug could improve the quality of life for the millions of people worldwide who suffer from chronic pain.”

“The promising results led to the transfer of the technology to a US-based biopharmaceutical startup company Neuresta. The Neuresta team is now working on neuronal blockers tailored for various neurological conditions using the new bonding technique.”

Professor Davletov added, “This new program of biopharmaceutical development could make it possible to produce a variety of Botox-like medicines in a safer and more economical way.”

While existing Botox and Dysport injections efficiently paralyze muscles, the elongated botulinum chemical inhibited pain-linked neurons without paralyzing muscles.

Botox has shown significant potential in therapeutic applications, but its paralytic effect has been a roadblock for pain treatment until now.
In preclinical collaboration experiments at the Universities of Sheffield, Reading, and UCL, the researchers established that their newly designed neurotoxic is a non-paralyzing neuronal blocker.

The procedure could potentially allow for chronic pain relief that lasts as long as a single Botox injection (approximately four to five months), potentially benefiting up to 20% of the population who are estimated to be suffering from chronic pain.

Dr. Maria Maiaru, from the University of Reading, said, “People with chronic pain need new options for managing their symptoms. They need safer and more effective drugs.”

“These new Botulinum molecules are effective in reducing pain-like behavior in models of human pain. We believe that this approach could open the way for the development of pain treatment to improve the quality of life of millions of people living with chronic pain.

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