Montana Researching Anti-Opioid Vaccine

(July 12, 2019)

The University of Montana will begin developing an anti-opioid vaccine, reports ABCFox Montana. With $3.3 million from the National Institutes of Health, the university will start its research under Dr. Jay Evans, Director of the Center of Translational Medicine. He and his team have ambitious plans to negate opioid cravings. “We’re specifically targeting a fentanyl vaccine, although the technology we develop can be used for things like heroin, even cocaine, and other drugs of addiction as well,” Evans said.

The researchers want to prevent opioids from entering the brain. Without the opioid reaching the brain, the user couldn’t get high from the drug. So if researchers develop this vaccine, it could reduce the risk of relapse for those in recovery. Evans and his team hope for human trials for the vaccine in five years.

To learn more about fentanyl and heroin, look here. To find an opioid recovery center or doctor in Montana, look here or here.