New perspectives for chronic pain treatment: a patent review (2010-2016)

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Chronic pain is a major problem of public health worldwide and is responsible for the increase in health costs. The therapeutic options available in the market for the treatment of chronic pain are often rather ineffective due to; the high number of adverse reactions, tolerance and dependence, reducing the quality of life, pharmacotherapy adherence and functional capacity. Hence, several studies have been conducted in the search for new treatment alternatives for chronic pain syndromes.

Areas covered: This review brings together the therapeutic patents published over the past six years reporting the discovery of new drugs for the treatment of chronic pain, based on the perspective that these compounds are candidates for the management of chronic pain conditions.

Expert opinion: Over the past 6 years, several pharmaceutical companies, as well as universities and researchers, have synthesized a series of compounds, which have been shown to be effective in controlling chronic pain in preclinical studies. These findings nurture the hope of discovering new therapeutic options for chronic pain. However, such studies are in early stages and there is a long and hard path to be followed until these compounds can become chemical entities available to the public.

KEYWORDS:

• Chronic pain
• therapeutic patents
• exploration technology
• analgesic compounds

Article highlights

• Over the past 6 years, several compounds with analgesic activity have been synthesized by pharmaceutical companies and academic research groups;

• Most of the compounds have chemical structure containing elements also found in the basic skeleton of opioid drugs. However, this mechanism has been little reported in the patents;

• The pharmacological effect of these compounds was evaluated in pre-clinical studies and the exact mechanism of action and safety should be further evaluated;

• Clinical studies are needed to provide clinical evidence that these compounds are actually able to control chronic pain;

• There is hope that new therapeutic agents for the management of chronic pain are launched in the market shortly.

This box summarizes key points contained in the article.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank teacher Abilio Borghi for the grammar review of this manuscript.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no 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. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Additional information

Funding

The authors were supported by grants from Foundation for Research and Technological Innovation of the State of Sergipe/Brazil and CNPq/Brazil.