New Opioid Drug Designed to Treat Back Pain Without Producing High

A San Francisco-based drug company has applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval of a new opioid that it says treats back pain without causing euphoria, thereby decreasing the chance of abuse. Nektar Therapeutics submitted a new drug application last month for NKTR-181, which is intended to treat chronic low back pain in adults who are new to opioid therapy. "This innovative investigational medicine separates analgesic efficacy from the high levels of euphoria that too often lead to the abuse and addiction of traditional opioids,” Steve Doberstein, Nektar&rsquo...