Ensysce Biosciences CEO Dr. Lynn Kirkpatrick and Creighton University's Dr. Neel Pathak Discuss the Opioid Crisis and Next Generation Opioids

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NEW YORK, March 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today's Marketplace (TMP) is proud to announce a featured interview with Ensysce Biosciences (NASDAQ: ENSC) CEO Dr. Lynn Kirkpatrick and Dr. Neel Pathak, DS, Program Director with Creighton University. The doctors joined TMP's host Jane King to discuss the ongoing issues with opioids for pain management and how "clever chemistry" is being used to introduce safer opioids that are less prone to accidental overdose and abuse.

The full interview can be viewed online here.

"[Unfortunately,] opioids are still being prescribed for pain because, for many patients, there still are no other alternatives available to meet their needs for relief of severe and chronic pain, such as post-acute surgical care, cancer care, palliative care, etc. Yet we all know that opioids come with severe risks as well. Still, there are about 3 million patients a year that have no choice but to rely on opioids."

Dr. Pathak went on to explain to King that those risks not only encompass health concerns like abuse and addiction but also have a serious economic impact, costing the healthcare industry almost one trillion dollars annually!

Dr. Kirkpatrick explained how Ensysce Biosciences is trying to change all that by introducing safer opioids.

"Our team uses what I like to call 'clever chemistry' to create the next generation of opioids," she told King. "The clever chemistry is designed to not only reduce abuse but to make these products safer, so patients in pain can have less fear and higher confidence level in taking opioid medications when they need them."

The pharmaceutical industry recognizes the opioid crisis in America. Whereas other companies have invested billions of dollars unsuccessfully trying to develop other forms of painkillers that are as effective as opioids, Dr. Kirkpatrick said her company has taken a different approach -- which is to re-engineer opioids so that doctors can be confident prescribing and patients more comfortable taking.

Dr. Kirkpatrick further clarifies, "[To date] there are no products on the market that can surpass the pain relief of opioids. We are chemically modifying opioids, making them inactive unless they are taken orally, which significantly cuts down the chances of abuse."

That "clever" chemical engineering also includes built-in safeguards against overdose that prevent the medication from being released if more than the prescribed dosage is ingested. All of this while still making the drug – in this case, oxycodone – still effective as always in alleviating pain.