AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
Analgesics are among the most commonly prescribed medications, and opioid painkillers are the gold standard
for the management of severe acute pain and for many chronic pain conditions. Opioid receptor signaling in
acute and chronic pain states is complex, and the side effects conveyed by mu-opioid receptor (MOR)
analgesics, including tolerance and dependence and respiratory depressions are a limiting factor in their
clinical use. In addition to the reported side effects, opioid abuse and deaths resulting from overdose of
opioids have escalated to a point of crisis. Drug overdose is currently the leading cause of accidental death in
the United States, and in 2015 it was reported that nearly one third of those deaths could be attributed to opioid
prescription painkillers.
[1]
Some progress has been made in drug discovery efforts to identify safer opioid
analgesics drugs.
[2]
Functional signaling bias, polypharmacology, genetic differences between species, types of
tissue, and regional brain differences are some of the suggested basis of selectivity achieved among opioid
analgesics.
[3][4][5]
However despite decades of research, only one opioid analgesic (oliceridine) with efficacy
similar to morphine and reduced side effects has been approved for clinical use as an intravenous opioid; it is
not orally available.
The Opioid Drug Ontology (ODO) – is an integrated and FAIR knowledgebase that is currently under development.
The ODO is aimed at accelerating and improving the success of translational research,
and drug discovery programs towards the identification of efficacious and safe opioid pain therapeutics.
