Forum for Science, Industry and Business

Potential new painkiller drug developed by scientists at Leicester and in Italy

Professor David Lambert, who has been involved in the development the drug in collaboration with Dr Girolamo Calo in Ferrara Italy, believes the new drug – called UFP-101 - avoids many of the side effects of morphine, currently the ‘gold standard’ in pain reduction.

He said: “In a 2005 survey for the British Pain Society 975 people were questioned about pain. Twenty one percent experienced pain every day or most days equating to ~10million 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.”

Since appointment in 1991 as a lecturer Professor Lambert has been working on opioids and opioid receptors with particular emphasis on understanding receptor function and the design and evaluation of new drugs to target these receptors.

In collaboration with Dr Girolamo Calo his laboratory has characterised a prototype analgesic (pain killer), acting at a new opioid receptor, with a much reduced side effect profile.

In his inaugural lecture he will describe the current place of opioids in the clinic and development of UFP-101.

Inaugural lecture at 5.30pm on 20th March, Ken Edwards Building, University of Leicester

Alex Jelley | alfa
Further information:
http://www.le.ac.uk

Im Focus: Can we see monkeys from space? Emerging technologies to map biodiversity

An international team of scientists has proposed a new multi-disciplinary approach in which an array of new technologies will allow us to map biodiversity and the risks that wildlife is facing at the scale of whole landscapes. The findings are published in Nature Ecology and Evolution. This international research is led by the Kunming Institute of Zoology from China, University of East Anglia, University of Leicester and the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research.

Using a combination of satellite and ground data, the team proposes that it is now possible to map biodiversity with an accuracy that has not been previously...

Im Focus: Climate satellite: Tracking methane with robust laser technology

Heatwaves in the Arctic, longer periods of vegetation in Europe, severe floods in West Africa – starting in 2021, scientists want to explore the emissions of the greenhouse gas methane with the German-French satellite MERLIN. This is made possible by a new robust laser system of the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen, which achieves unprecedented measurement accuracy.

Methane is primarily the result of the decomposition of organic matter. The gas has a 25 times greater warming potential than carbon dioxide, but is not as...

Im Focus: How protons move through a fuel cell

Hydrogen is regarded as the energy source of the future: It is produced with solar power and can be used to generate heat and electricity in fuel cells. Empa researchers have now succeeded in decoding the movement of hydrogen ions in crystals – a key step towards more efficient energy conversion in the hydrogen industry of tomorrow.

As charge carriers, electrons and ions play the leading role in electrochemical energy storage devices and converters such as batteries and fuel cells. Proton...

Im Focus: A unique data centre for cosmological simulations

Scientists from the Excellence Cluster Universe at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich have establised "Cosmowebportal", a unique data centre for cosmological simulations located at the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ) of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. The complete results of a series of large hydrodynamical cosmological simulations are available, with data volumes typically exceeding several hundred terabytes. Scientists worldwide can interactively explore these complex simulations via a web interface and directly access the results.

With current telescopes, scientists can observe our Universe’s galaxies and galaxy clusters and their distribution along an invisible cosmic web. From the...

Im Focus: Scientists develop molecular thermometer for contactless measurement using infrared light

Temperature measurements possible even on the smallest scale / Molecular ruby for use in material sciences, biology, and medicine

Chemists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in cooperation with researchers of the German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM)...