Researchers in Japan have developed a new type of painkiller that may one day offer strong pain relief without the dangerous risks linked to opioid drugs such as morphine and fentanyl.
The new medicine, called ADRIANA, is being developed by a team at Kyoto University and could become an important alternative for treating pain safely.
Painkillers known as opioids are among the strongest medicines doctors can use to reduce severe pain. They are often given to patients after surgery, during cancer treatment, or for serious injuries.
Opioids work by attaching to special receptors in the brain and nervous system that reduce the feeling of pain. While these drugs can be very effective, they also come with major problems.
One of the biggest dangers of opioids is that they can slow breathing. Taking too much can lead to overdose and death. Opioids can also cause dependence, meaning the body becomes used to them and needs higher doses over time.
Some people eventually become addicted. Because of these risks, opioid use is carefully controlled in many countries.
In Japan, only specially authorized doctors can prescribe opioids. In the United States, however, opioid medicines were heavily prescribed for many years. Drugs such as OxyContin became widely used, and this helped fuel a major addiction crisis.
Over time, many people turned to stronger synthetic opioids like fentanyl, which are far more dangerous. According to reports, more than 80,000 overdose deaths in the United States in 2023 were linked to opioids. The crisis has affected millions of families and has become one of the largest public health problems in recent history.
Because of this growing problem, scientists around the world have been searching for new ways to control pain without using opioids. The Kyoto University team believes ADRIANA could become one of those safer options.
Unlike opioids, ADRIANA does not directly target opioid receptors. Instead, it works through the body’s own natural pain-control system. When people face life-threatening danger or extreme stress, the body releases a chemical called noradrenaline.
This chemical helps the body react quickly and can also reduce pain by activating special receptors called α2A-adrenoceptors.
Some existing drugs already try to copy the effects of noradrenaline. These medicines can help relieve pain, but they often create serious side effects involving the heart and blood pressure. This has limited their wider use.
The Kyoto researchers wanted to find a safer method. Instead of activating the pain-relieving receptors directly, they focused on another receptor known as the α2B-adrenoceptor.
The scientists believed that blocking this receptor could naturally increase levels of noradrenaline inside the body. The extra noradrenaline would then activate the helpful α2A-adrenoceptors and reduce pain without causing dangerous heart-related problems.
To search for the right compound, the research team used a modern testing method called the TGFα shedding assay. This technology allowed them to carefully screen many compounds and identify the world’s first selective α2B-adrenoceptor blocker.
After laboratory testing, the researchers moved to animal studies. Tests in mice showed promising pain-relieving effects. The team also completed non-clinical safety studies to check whether the drug appeared safe enough for human testing.
Following these encouraging results, ADRIANA entered clinical trials at Kyoto University Hospital. In a Phase I clinical trial, healthy volunteers received the drug so researchers could study its safety and how the body responds to it. The results were positive.
The drug then moved into a Phase II clinical trial involving patients recovering from lung cancer surgery, where pain management is very important.
According to the researchers, ADRIANA showed promising signs of relieving pain effectively while avoiding the serious side effects commonly linked to opioids. These early results have given scientists hope that the medicine could become a completely new type of pain treatment.
The study was published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Professor Masatoshi Hagiwara, who leads the research team, said the group hopes to test ADRIANA on many different kinds of pain in the future, including chronic pain conditions that affect people for years.
The next step will be a larger Phase II clinical trial in the United States. The project is being carried out together with BTB Therapeutics, Inc., a company connected to Kyoto University.
Large clinical trials are important because they allow scientists to study how well the medicine works in larger groups of patients and identify any possible side effects.
If future studies continue to show good results, ADRIANA could become Japan’s first non-opioid painkiller of its kind. More importantly, it could help reduce the need for opioid drugs around the world.
Experts say safer painkillers are urgently needed because chronic pain affects hundreds of millions of people globally. Many patients struggle to balance pain relief with the risks of addiction and overdose. A medicine that can provide strong pain relief without those dangers could change how doctors treat pain in the future.
Although ADRIANA is still being tested and is not yet available to patients, the research marks an important step toward safer pain treatment.
Scientists hope that one day people recovering from surgery, living with cancer, or suffering from chronic pain may be able to manage their pain without relying on addictive opioid medicines.
If you care about pain, please read studies about vitamin K deficiency linked to hip fractures in old people, and these vitamins could help reduce bone fracture risk.
For more health information, please see recent studies that Krill oil could improve muscle health in older people, and eating yogurt linked to lower frailty in older people.
Copyright © 2026 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
