HOUSTON – The first anti-fentanyl vaccine of its kind is one step closer to saving lives.
This is our own Zach Lashway story published in 2022. Dr. Colin Hale, an associate professor at the University of Houston, confirmed that the shot will head into clinical trials in early 2025.
“They are now producing clinical-grade vaccines,” Heil explained.
It will take some time for a vaccine to reach the market.
“The best-case scenario is three years, maybe more,” Heil said.
The entire composition of Haile’s anti-fentanyl vaccine formulation has already been used in humans.
“So we’re really hoping for quick approval,” Heil explained. “This vaccine is primarily aimed at people who really want to quit smoking, but we know that a very high percentage of these people relapse. We think of it as a relapse prevention agent. The benefit of the vaccine is that You can’t get rid of them. You can’t stop them from taking the drug. When this vaccine recipient takes the fentanyl, those antibodies bind to the drug and the drug enters the brain. It prevents it from causing euphoria and, in some cases, death from overdose. It has no effect when removed from the body.”
Heil suggested the vaccine could also benefit law enforcement personnel, including teens, first responders and front-line dogs.
Whereas most of the tools we have to fight the opioid epidemic are reactive drugs like naloxone, this one is preventative.
“If that person overdoses, they probably won’t be able to give it to themselves, so there are limited scenarios where Narcan can be used,” Haile explained.
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