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NarcoBond®© TM: A Novel Drug Overdose Decoy Receptor Countermeasure

The Problem: the opioid epidemic is causing an unprecedented number of deaths, surging to over 100,000 per year in the United States. Adding to this carnage, a wave of overdose deaths is being wrought by a deadly cocktail of fentanyl and xylazine. Xylazine, also known as “Tranq” or “zombie drug”, is a powerful sedative ap-proved only for veterinary use and is incredibly dangerous to people on its own. This surge is so concerning that the Biden administration declared the fentanyl-xylazine drug cocktail a national threat. Xylazine increases the profits of traffickers by extending the high or euphoria of opioids, affording a reduction in the amount of pre-cious opioid needed. Since xylazine is not an opioid, naloxone (Narcan) does not reverse its effect and no anti-dote for xylazine is approved for human use. Xylazine-fentanyl cocktails have a high potential for fatal overdose since both substances depress respiratory function and this interaction appears synergistic. Drug cartels are increasingly adding xylazine to illicit fentanyl, with a quarter of overdoses now linked to opioid laced with xylazine.
Our Solution: NarcoBondα2/µO – a “nanosponge” containing decoy receptors for fentanyl (mu opioid receptor) and xylazine (α2A-adrenergic receptor -α2AAR) safely corrals the drugs in the peripheral blood. As a result, the drugs are trapped away the central nervous system, thus sparing the patient from the high CNS concentrations that depress respiration and cause death. Previously, we used our platform to develop nanasponges for opioids and methamphetamines. Crucially, we showed life-saving effects in rodents with NarcoBondµO, a nanosponge that sequesters opioids in the peripheral blood from where the opioids are safely cleared.
“NarcoBond” nanospheres are assembled from a mixture of cholesterol & synthetic choline-based phos-pholipids that mimic a cell membrane. Its multifunctional surface displays these human membrane proteins in their natural environment which optimizes the binding function of decoyed receptors and the capture of drugs. As a 100 nm nanosponge, NarcoBond resides in the peripheral circulation and thus safely sequesters over-dosed drugs away from the CNS. This results in an antagonistic pharmacological effect by rapidly reducing free plasma and CNS concentration of the circulating drug(s). With time, drugs are then safely cleared by standard routes of elimination.  NarcoBond is agnostic to toxin types, since toxin receptors are the active Ingredient(s):Mu Opioid-R (Fentanyl, etc.); σ1R-DAT-R (Meth); α2 adrenergic-R (Xylazine); Other substances of Abuse & Concern:…………

** NarcoBond is a registered trademark of CiBots, Inc.

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