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Updated: Oct 7, 2025

Author Spotlight: An Efficient Methodology to Confidently Differentiate and Characterize Fentanyl Analogs
Published on: November 8, 2024
A Vaccine against Benzimidazole-Derived New Psychoactive Substances That Are More Potent Than Fentanyl
Jinny Claire Lee1, Hyeri Park1, Lisa M Eubanks1
1Departments of Chemistry and Immunology, The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, Worm Institute for Research and Medicine (WIRM), The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, United States.
Abstract:
New psychoactive substance (NPS) opioids have proliferated within the international drug market. While synthetic opioids are traditionally composed of fentanyl analogues, benzimidazole-derived isotonitazene and its derivatives are the current NPS opioids of concern. Hence, in this study, we implement immunopharmacotherapy wherein antibodies are produced with high titers and nanomolar affinity to multiple benzimidazole-derived NPS opioids (BNO). Notably, these antibodies blunt psychoactive and physiological repercussions from BNO exposure, which was observed through antinociception, whole-body plethysmography, and blood-brain biodistribution studies. Moreover, we detail previously unreported pharmacokinetics of these drugs, which explains the struggle of traditional pharmaceutical opioid antagonists against BNO substances. These findings provide further insight into the in vivo effects of BNO drugs and the development of effective broad-spectrum therapeutics against NPS opioids.
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