A Vaccine Against Fentanyl!
A novel approach to treating opioid addiction is in development.
By Mark S Gold
Published by Psychology Today on October 21, 2024
Key points
• Treatment of substance use disorders (SUDs) is improving but marked by relapse and overdose.
• Animal studies have yielded major advances in vaccine technology for SUD treatment over the past 50 years.
• An anti-fentanyl vaccine is promising and could end the fentanyl overdose and death epidemic.
• Not an overnight success, 36 years of work has gone into an anti-fentanyl vaccine.
What if someday there were a way to prevent death from an overdose of fentanyl—whether the drug was taken purposely or accidentally (as when fentanyl is included in other drugs, and no one told the drug user)? It’s not ready for prime time yet, but a vaccine against fentanyl is under active development and expected to be tested on humans in 2025.
