One big question facing the development of a fentanyl vaccine or antibody treatment is whether a large enough dose of the drug can bypass the antibodies and get to the brain. Sharon Levy, an addiction specialist at Boston Children's Hospital who has worked on fentanyl vaccines and is one of ARMR's scientific advisers, says it's possible. “There will be a lot of antibodies,” she says.
In drug addiction treatment, Levy said, there's always a risk that patients will try to overcome the effects of a prescribed opioid-blocking drug by taking a high dose of an opioid, which is very dangerous, but she says that's rare.
Levy and her colleagues were carrying out polls on the acceptability of the fentanyl vaccine. She believes the main target group will be teenagers and young adults who may be accidentally exposed to fentanyl through street drugs. Individuals with opioid use disorder who are receiving active treatment may also be good candidates for vaccination.
“In general, our experience is that people will be interested in it,” she says.
Mike Selick, director of capacity building and community mobilization at the National Harm Reduction Coalition, is concerned that the fentanyl vaccine could block the effects of other opioids, leaving vaccinated people with few options for painkillers if they ever need them.
In animal studies, the University of Houston team found no cross-reactivity with other common opioid medications for pain and addiction, such as buprenorphine, methadone, morphine or oxycodone. But there is a downside to the lack of cross-reactivity. This means people can still overdose on other types of opioids and get high from them.
Gage knows a fentanyl vaccine isn't a perfect solution. Even if it works, it will not end the opioid epidemic or cure opioid addiction. This will not stop people from seeking drugs entirely. But it could be another tool to help prevent overdose deaths.
“We're trying to solve this problem through innovation and new technology,” he says, “because I think we desperately need it.”
This story originally appeared on WIRED.com.
