protonitazene

Protonitazene is a highly potent synthetic opioid belonging to the 2-benzylbenzimidazole (nitazene) class. Originally synthesized in the late 1950s by the Swiss pharmaceutical company CIBA Aktiengesellschaft as a potential analgesic alternative to morphine, its clinical development was abandoned due to a high risk of severe adverse events, including respiratory depression and addiction. Protonitazene acts as a robust, full agonist at the mu-opioid receptor, with a potency estimated to be significantly greater than that of morphine and comparable to or exceeding that of fentanyl. It has no approved medical uses and is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance in the United States and is monitored globally as an illicit novel synthetic opioid.

Other names

PNZpronitazenepropoxynitazene