Professor David Lambert, who has been involved in the development of the drug in collaboration with Dr Girolamo Calo in Ferrara, Italy, believes that the new drug, UFP-101, avoids many of the side effects of morphine, currently the gold standard in pain reduction.
Mr Lambert said: “In a 2005 survey for the British Pain Society, 975 people were questioned about pain. 21% experienced pain every day or most days equating to around 10 million across the whole UK.
“Morphine produces its clinical effects by interaction with opioid receptors. In addition to acting as a pain killer this drug produces a number of unwanted side effects of importance from a clinical (e.g. depression of breathing, constipation and tolerance) and social (addiction) viewpoints.
“Clearly, there is a place for new morphine like drugs without these side effects and the University of Leicester Anaesthesia Division has been at the forefront of such preclinical research.”