Invention
An estimated 50 million Americans are partly or totally disabled by chronic pain, and 45% of the total population seeks medical help for persistent pain at some point in their lives. Conservative estimates state that pain costs the United States some $100 billion every year. Up until this point, most chronic pain sufferers have been forced to decide between living with their pain and taking dangerous opiates, drugs whose severe side effects more often than not outweigh their benefits. Through a novel utilization of the cholera toxin, researchers at the University of Florida have developed a novel pain treatment that will revolutionize the industry and bring relief to millions of pain-ridden Americans. The University of Florida is actively seeking companies to license this remarkable technology.
Applications
Treatment for patients suffering from chronic or persistent pain
Advantages
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Our modified Cholera toxin binds specifically to targeted neural receptors associated with pain, allowing physicians to block neurons involved in pain transmission without disturbing adjacent cells, thereby dramatically reducing side effects
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Due to our technology's remarkable specificity, the effects of the treatment would last longer than those of current medications
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Unlike conventional opiate treatments, our technology is powerful yet non-addictive, allowing patients to continue treatment without the fear of developing a drug dependency
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Due to the cholera toxin's low occurrence of side effects and its ability to be targeted to specific cells, our technology may safely be used in conjunction with standard pain therapies
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The synthesis of the agents involved in our treatment are relatively straightforward and inexpensive, saving money not only for the patients, but also allowing the manufacturer to profitably produce large quantities
Technology
Our invention targets specific neurons in the central nervous system associated with pain. The internalization of the cholera toxin blocks hyperalgesia and allodynia, two major symptoms associated with chronic pain. The targeted cholera toxin catalytic subunit will have a reduced side effect profile because it will be administered to the spinal cord and will only act on the cells for which it is targeted.
Brochure
