Monoclonal Antibodies for Combating Synthetic Opioid Intoxication

Opioid abuse in the United States has been declared a national crisis and is exacerbated by an inexpensive, readily available, and illicit supply of synthetic opioids. Specifically, fentanyl and related analogues such as carfentanil pose a significant danger to opioid users due to their high potency and rapid acting depression of respiration. In recent years these synthetic opioids have become the number one cause of drug-related deaths. In our research efforts to combat the public health threat posed by synthetic opioids, we have developed monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against the fentanyl class of drugs. The mAbs were generated in hybridomas derived from mice vaccinated with a fentanyl conjugate vaccine. Guided by a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) binding assay, we selected six hybridomas that produced mAbs with 10^-11 M binding affinity for fentanyl, yet broad cross-reactivity with related fentanyl analogues. In mouse antinociception models, our lead mAb (6A4) could blunt the effects of both fentanyl and carfentanil in a dose-responsive manner. Additionally, mice pretreated with 6A4 displayed enhanced survival when subjected to fentanyl above LD₅₀ doses. Pharmacokinetic analysis revealed that the antibody sequesters large amounts of these drugs in the blood, thus reducing drug biodistribution to the brain and other tissue. Lastly, the 6A4 mAb could effectively reverse fentanyl/carfentanil-induced antinociception comparable to the opioid antagonist naloxone, the standard of care drug for treating opioid overdose. While naloxone is known for its short half-life, we found the half-life of 6A4 to be approximately 6 days in mice, thus monoclonal antibodies could theoretically be useful in preventing renarcotization events in which opioid intoxication recurs following quick metabolism of naloxone. Our results as a whole demonstrate that monoclonal antibodies could be a desirable treatment modality for synthetic opioid overdose and possibly opioid use disorder.