One of the chemicals that is closest to market is a small protein drug that was based upon a toxin found in the venom of cone snails called Prialt, discovered by a scientist named Baldomera Olivera, a Philippines professor at the University of Utah. This is astonishing in itself, because natural compounds are almost always chemically modified to make them work better as drugs. In this case, nature perfected the compound on its own. Further research has revealed that the toxin targets a certain type of molecule, usually a "channel" protein that helps pass messages in the nervous system, a drug for patients who suffer from severe chronic pain who require intrathecal therapy that cannot be relieved by morphine and other potent pain drugs. Severe chronic pain is defined as pain lasting longer than six months and has multiple causes, such as failed back surgery, injury, accident, cancer, AIDS, and other nervous system disorders.
Prialt is a synthetic copy of a toxin from the Magician’s cone snail, Conus magus, a mollusc from the Great Barrier Reef, is also one of the first pharmaceuticals that demonstrate the promise that marine life, particularly invertebrates. Prialt contains ziconotide, synthetic form of the cone snail peptide.
Prialt molecule blocks calcium channels in specific nerve cells, preventing certain pain signals from reaching the brain. It targets a particular subgroup known as N-type calcium channels, which play a role in some kinds of pain. Prialt requires that a pump be implanted or used externally to send the drug by catheter into the spinal fluid, a technology often reserved to deliver morphine to critically ill AIDS cancer patients. Prialt is designed to ease persistent pains in people who suffer from various types of cancer and other very serious diseases. It is a very powerful drug, as it was created to lessen chronic pains in individuals that no longer responded to morphine therapy.
Links:
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=7&sid=b8ec375a-9245-451c-aa11-5e536f708e5d%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=anh&AN=16478096
http://www.physorg.com/news82662614.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5165124.stm
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990DE2DE1F3FF935A3575BC0A960958260&sec=health&spon=&pagewanted=all
