Opioid Vaccine Being Developed

Researchers from the Precision Vaccines Program at Boston Children’s Hospital and the University of Houston say they are using a $25 million grant from the National Institutes of Health Helping to End Addiction Long-term initiative to develop an adjuvant opioid use disorder vaccine. A University of Houston announcement says the vaccine targets fentanyl.

The release says an anti-opioid vaccine would protect the brain and nervous system by stimulating the body to create powerful antibodies that target and bind to opioid molecules, preventing them from crossing the blood-brain barrier to reach the brain. By blocking opioids from the brain, it says, the vaccine would reduce respiratory depression brought on by opioids when they reach the brain.

The researchers say fentanyl poses an especially difficult problem because it is often added to street drugs like cocaine, methamphetamines, and even counterfeit benzodiazepines, which adds to the amount of fentanyl overdose.