New fentanyl vaccine could save lives if the government doesn’t ban it for being a vaccine
In a bold and probably soon-to-be-controversial move, scientists are developing a vaccine that could prevent fentanyl overdoses. Instead of just reviving people with Narcan after they collapse, biotech startup ARMR wants to block the high entirely, before the drug even hits the brain. RFK Jr will find a reason to declare this as voodoo, and JD Vance will say it lacks machismo, just tough the overdose out.
But a vaccine like the one ARMR Sciences is developing would be given before a person even encounters the drug. Gage likens it to a bulletproof vest or a suit of armor—hence the company’s name. (It was previously registered as Ovax but switched names in January.) “This is something that could completely change the paradigm of how we deal with overdose, because it doesn’t require someone to be carrying the treatment on them,” Gage says.
Opioid vaccines were initially proposed in the 1970s, but after early attempts at heroin vaccines failed, much of the research was abandoned. The modern opioid epidemic has led to a resurgence of interest, with backing from the US government.
ARMR’s experimental vaccine is designed to neutralize fentanyl in the bloodstream before it reaches the brain. Keeping fentanyl out of the brain would prevent the respiratory failure that comes with overdose, which causes death, as well as the euphoric high people get while taking fentanyl.
The shot teaches your immune system to react to fentanyl in your bloodstream like a biochemical bouncer, stopping it from barging into your nervous system and crashing the respiratory party. Trials are kicking off in the Netherlands because people there trust science more than YouTube videos or FOX News hosts.
“In animal studies, the University of Houston team found no cross-reactivity with other common opioid-based common pain and addiction treatment medications, such as buprenorphine, methadone, morphine, or oxycodone. But there’s a downside to a lack of cross-reactivity. It means that people could still overdose on other types of opioids—and get high from them.”
Old school heroin would like to catch up.
Although this sounds good in theory, what happens when someone NEEDS the pain relief from fentanyl? Like it or not, it has very necessary medical uses. I believe the fentanyl epidemic has made it hard for people who need the pain relief it supplies to get what they need, already.
I read the article and there was no discussion of this issue. Certainly it is something that needs to be looked at before the vaccine is approved. Of course, we currently live in the US under RFK Jr's Dept. of Health, so it won't get approved at all, but if we ever return to vaccine sanity, this is something that needs to be taken into consideration.