A new class of pain relievers that targets musculoskeletal pain
receptors, instead of more general pain pathways, could
alleviate osteoarthritis pain better than any drug now on the
market, but hurdles remain before it’s approved by the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration. Research on the new therapy was
published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Osteoarthritis occurs when joint cartilage wears down, with the
worst cases requiring joint replacement surgery. The pain can be
unrelenting, and there’s no real cure. Patients often get
through the day by relying on pain relievers, typically starting
with over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
(NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen. As the pain intensifies and people
become inured to the drugs’ effects, they gradually work their
way up to opioids such as oxycodone. The new treatment, called
tanezumab, acts on a completely different pathway. While NSAIDs
inhibit an enzyme that produces inflammation, and opioids target
specific receptors in the centr