Oliceridine in the Treatment of Moderate to Severe Acute Pain

Abstract

Intravenous opioids are a mainstay for the management of moderate to severe acute pain. Opioid administration provides effective pain control at the cost of significant side effects. Commonly used opioids like morphine are nonselective μ-receptor agonists, which stimulate both the G-protein pathway, associated with the analgesic effect, and the β-arrestin pathway, associated with the side effects. Oliceridine is a G-protein selective ligand at the μ-receptor with less activation of the β-arrestin pathway. The drug has recently been US FDA approved. This review will focus on the efficacy and safety of intravenous oliceridine in the treatment of moderate to severe acute pain.

Lay abstract

Opioids provide effective pain control for the management of moderate to severe acute pain. However, there are significant side effects associated with these pain control medications, including shallower and slower breathing, nausea and vomiting, constipation, itchiness and drowsiness. Commonly used opioids like morphine work by activating two signaling pathways; one pathway leads to the pain relief effect and the other pathway is associated with the development of the side effects. Oliceridine is a novel opioid medication that is designed to activate the side effect pathway to a lesser extent. The drug has recently been US FDA approved. This review article will focus on the efficacy and safety of intravenous oliceridine in the treatment of moderate to severe acute pain.

Keywords::

• analgesia
• analgesia-mu receptor
• analgesia-opioid
• G-protein biased ligand
• g-protein ligand
• G-protein selective ligand
• oliceridine
• parenteral opioid administration
• side effects – opioids
• TRV130

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank CG Keith for his help with figure design.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

AS Habib has received research support from Trevena, Inc., Pacira Biosciences, BioQ Pharma and Avanos and is a consultant for Trevena, Inc. He also served on the advisory board for Takeda and Heron. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Company review disclosure

In addition to the peer-review process, with the author’s consent, the manufacturer of the product discussed in this article was given the opportunity to review the manuscript for factual accuracy. Changes were made by the author at their discretion and based on scientific or editorial merit only. The author maintained full control over the manuscript, including content, wording and conclusions.

Additional information

Funding

AS Habib has received research support from Trevena, Inc., Pacira Biosciences, BioQ Pharma and Avanos and is a consultant for Trevena, Inc. He also served on the advisory board for Takeda and Heron. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.