KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa., June 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Trevena, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRVN) today announced its recent participation in the “Cutting Edge Science Meeting Series to End the Opioid Crisis: Development of Safe, Effective, Non-Addictive Pain Treatments” conference, held June 16, 2017 at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Campus, Bethesda, MD. The conference gathered leading scientists and physicians from academia, industry, and government to discuss how new approaches to pain management might reduce risks to patients and communities who have suffered from the opioid crisis while improving treatment options for serious pain. David Soergel, M.D., Trevena’s chief medical officer, participated in the conference.
“The opioid crisis compels us as scientists and clinicians to evaluate new methods for managing pain more safely and with less risk of abuse and dependence,” said Dr. Soergel. “We cannot ignore patients’ pain, but we cannot accept the status quo. I’m pleased Trevena was asked to participate in the much-needed discussion sponsored by the NIH of how we can accelerate basic research and drug development to tackle the challenges of pain management. These include finding novel non-opioid mechanisms for treating pain, but also finding safer opioids for patients who still require opioid analgesia. Trevena is proud to play a role in these important efforts.”
Among the approaches discussed at the conference were biased ligands, which target drug receptors with a novel mechanism to selectively activate therapeutic responses while reducing adverse effects. Trevena has discovered new biased ligands for acute pain, chronic pain, and acute migraine, among others. Most notably, Trevena’s OLINVOTM (oliceridine injection) is a biased ligand designed to improve safety of mu-opioid-receptor mediated pain relief and is in Phase 3 development for the management of moderate to severe acute pain in patients who require an intravenous opioid in hospitals and similar settings.
About moderate-to-severe acute pain management in hospitals
Pain management is essential for patient recovery and discharge from hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers. Despite the use of other approaches to pain relief, IV opioids often remain necessary for treating moderate-to-severe acute pain: approximately 50 million hospital patients in the U.S. are treated each year with conventional IV opioids. However, these medications are associated with important adverse effects: nausea and vomiting occur in approximately 30% of postoperative patients and contribute approximately $1 billion in U.S. hospital costs; opioid-induced respiratory depression can threaten patient safety and accounts for up to $28,000 in additional hospital costs per patient. This unmet need is highest for patients whose pain management requires an IV opioid but are at risk from opioid-induced respiratory depression, may suffer surgical complications from post-operative vomiting, or whose recovery may be prolonged by post-operative nausea and vomiting.
About Trevena
Trevena, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies based on breakthrough science to benefit patients and healthcare providers confronting serious medical conditions. The Company’s lead program is OLINVOTM (oliceridine injection), which has completed two successful Phase 3 trials for the management of moderate-to-severe acute pain. Trevena has discovered four novel and differentiated drug candidates, including OLINVO. Trevena also has discovered TRV250, in early clinical development for the treatment of acute migraine. The Company maintains an early stage portfolio of drug discovery programs.