NCBiotech Grantees Translate Basic Research Into New Pain Treatment

By Nancy Lamontagne

Ongoing work to translate basic biology findings into a new combination pain treatment that could help make opioid-based pain medicines more effective. This research was made possible by a grant which helped researchers move important finding on the combination treatment into a clinical trial. The new treatment grew out of basic science studies in which the NCBiotech grantees examined how the brain’s response to opioids overlaps with its response to dopamine.

The proof-of-concept data generated from this research grant attracted the attention of investors and potential licensees, and Chapel Hill-based startup Amalgent Therapeutics decided to license the technology. The researchers were also issued a patent for the combination treatment in 2021.