Tetrodin™

A revolutionary non-narcotic pharmaceutical, with potent analgesic properties. With experiments to date Tetrodin™ has shown to provide a safe, cost effective primary withdrawal treatment solution for heroin and other opiate addiction to substances such as morphine, opium and methadone.  These highly addictive drugs work by sending an active ingredient to the opioid receptors of the brain, creating an euphoric feeling. Addicted users experience a continued physical craving for the euphoric results produced by repeated use, exacerbated by the fear of the withdrawal symptoms that, in all cases, follows discontinued use of the drug.  These symptoms generally include severe pain, sweating, vomiting and tremors.

The Company believes that treatment with Tetrodin™ can effectively reduce or eliminate the pain and other symptoms associated with withdrawal while the body eliminates the opiate residue to the point where it is no longer detectable in the bloodstream. Tetrodin™ has shown to date to have no addictive properties. 

WEX recently completed a Phase IIa study.  The results suggested that the use of a four-day pre-treatment regimen of 30 μg of subcutaneous tetrodotoxin (Tetrodin™), two times a day, prior to the initiation of withdrawal symptoms with naloxone, does not alleviate the withdrawal symptoms, as assessed in 14 methadone-maintained subjects.  However, the results are not conclusive since the study included a relatively small number of subjects with a large variation in response, a small carryover effect was observed from one treatment period to the next and tetrodotoxin was not administered while subjects were experiencing withdrawal symptoms with this pre-treatment study design. 

A significant finding from this study was that the safety profile of tetrodotoxin was similar to that observed in previous studies and the administration of naloxone following tetrodotoxin versus placebo treatment did not produce different safety profiles.

Most importantly, the experience with this study has helped the Company to better understanding tetrodotoxin’s mechanism of action, such that tetrodotoxin treatment may only be effective when administered during the withdrawal period.   Hence, it is possible that in a larger study with a different treatment regimen, tetrodotoxin may prove to have clinical efficacy in this indication.