conolidine

Conolidine is a naturally occurring indole alkaloid, originally isolated from the bark of *Tabernaemontana divaricata*, that is being developed as a novel non-opioid analgesic. Unlike traditional opioids that directly activate mu-opioid receptors, conolidine acts as a potent antagonist of the atypical chemokine receptor 3 (ACKR3), also known as CXCR7. ACKR3 functions as a scavenger receptor that binds and degrades endogenous opioid peptides such as enkephalins and dynorphins. By inhibiting ACKR3, conolidine increases the local concentration of these endogenous opioids, thereby enhancing natural pain-suppression pathways. Biomia is currently advancing synthetic analogs of conolidine, including BMC-007, BMC-009, and BMC-014, for the treatment of post-surgical and chronic pain, aiming to provide effective analgesia without the side effects of addiction or respiratory depression associated with conventional opioid therapies.

Other names

conolidine