New drug for lower back pain could be ‘a gamechanger’
0
22
Millions of people worldwide with severe back pain may be able to get relief from a new drug that uses antibiotics rather than painkillers to tackle the condition.Doctors who have tested the drug said it could be “a gamechanger” for the one in four people whose lower back pain is caused by an infection rather than a muscular or spinal problem.An early stage trial of the drug found that six in 10 of those who took it experienced major benefits, including a significant decline in the pain and disability they had previously suffered.The drug, called PP353, is in development by Persica Pharmaceuticals, a Kent-based biotech firm. It staged the trial in conjunction with six NHS hospitals in England and Wales.Dr Shiva Tripathi, an NHS pain consultant and the chief investigator of the trial, said if the drug is approved by regulators and becomes available it would be “a gamechanger for chronic lower back pain on the similar levels as [how] antibiotics made a difference to infection. Because if...