Non-addictive Painkiller Made From Snail Spit Now Comes in a Pill

A form of non-addictive painkiller taken from the saliva of sea snails has finally been made into a pill that can be administered orally to patients with severe types of pain, according to a report published in Chemical & Engineering News.

Previously,sea snail venoms have been studied by scientists for pain management, but the synthetic solutions were limited in that they could only be injected directly into the spinal cord, i.e. Ziconotide.

Australian scientists, however, developed a form of painkiller based on a specific type of sea snail saliva that can be administered orally as a pill to relieve peripheral neuropathy. The pill can be given at lower doses than other commonly used narcotic medications and also is non-addictive.