Pain drug in pipeline as researchers unwind marine snail puzzle

A University of Queensland researcher has made a big step toward the holy grail of biomedical science — a new form of effective pain relief. School of Biomedical Sciences researcher Dr Richard Clark said marine snail venom was a well-known and promising source of new pain drugs, but substantial hurdles had restrained progress. "Translating the venom's toxins into a viable drug has proved difficult," Dr Clark said. "But now we've been able to identify a core component of one of these conotoxins (toxins from cone snail venom) during laboratory tests. "We think this will make it much easier to translate the active ingredient into a useful drug." Dr Clark said a sea snail used its venom to immobilise prey and protect itself. "The venom's analgesic properties have been well researched," he said. "In this study, we've been able to shrink a particular conotoxin to its minimum necessary components for the pain relief properties to continue to work.