New Pain Reliever from Snail Venom

Researchers have discovered that a compound from a toxic marine snail, an often deadly mollusk found on the Great Barrier Reef, is more powerful and longer lasting than morphine but is not addictive and lacks morphine's side effects. The discovery was announced at the annual meeting of the International Society for Toxicology in Cairns, Australia.

The compound, called ACV1, is made from the venom of a cone shell. It treats pain by blocking the transmission of pain along the peripheral nervous system, say the researchers, from the University of Melbourne (Australia; www.unimelb.edu.au). At least one other company has already developed a drug for pain from a cone shell toxin (conotoxin), but it has shown side effects that include raised blood pressure. ACV1 acts on a different class of pain receptors and is unlikely to exhibit the same side effects.

"ACV1 is a tiny molecule compared to competing conotoxin drugs, making it easier and cheaper to synthesize,” said Bruce Livett, team leader and an associate professor in the department of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Melbourne. "Competing drugs also need to be injected into the spinal column. ACV1 can be injected into the muscle or fat layer of patients, making it available to a wider group of patients and an advantage when recruiting patients for clinical trials.”




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