The state has awarded nearly $10 million for several research and development projects that aim to stem opioid addiction, part of the $20 million Gov. John Kasich said he wanted to set aside for high-tech solutions to the epidemic. This could be the first step in changing the face of the fight.
“We look at it as a new class of opioid.”
Greg Sturmer is with Elysium Therapeutics. They’re developing a new kind of pill that would limit how much of the painkilling substance would be released into the body.
He says this can prevent overdoses and even stop addiction.
“So there’s not that reward for ‘the more I take the more high I get.’”
Elysium got nearly $3 million from the state, which Sturmer says can help the company move forward with its testing on animals and eventually humans.
Other projects that got state money include programs that use analytics to identify and prevent addiction, other types of pain management devices, and a web-based service that can streamline recovery services.
