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NIDA award will fund research on new cocaine abuse treatment

Researchers from the University of Kentucky have received $6 million in funding over 5 years to further develop a potential treatment for cocaine abuse.

The project, conducted by Chang-Guo Zhan, PhD, Fang Zheng, PhD, MSc, and Sharon Walsh, PhD, from the University of Kentucky, and Mei-Chuan Ko, PhD, of Wake Forest University, will be funded through the National Institute on Drug Abuse Translational Avant-Garde Award.

Sharon Walsh

“Dr. Zhan’s groundbreaking work in this field cannot be overstated,” Kelly M. Smith, PharmD, interim dean at the University of Kentucky, said in a press release. “There currently is no FDA-approved treatment for cocaine overdose or cocaine addiction, and Dr. Zhan and his research team are trying to change that. Developing such therapies would be a major breakthrough for health care.”

Zhan and colleagues have previously designed and tested CocH1, an enzyme that breaks down cocaine in the bloodstream without producing harmful byproducts in the body.

Kelly M. smith

The new project will use molecular modeling technology to evaluate the ability of a new enzyme, CocH-LAF, to neutralize cocaine in the bloodstream.

Prior testing of CocH-LAF has indicated a significant improvement in efficiency compared with CocH1.

Further, CocH-LAF has a longer biological half-life and therefore eliminates cocaine from the bloodstream much quicker than CocH1.

“This next stage of our research is promising, showing that the enzyme has extended function in the bloodstream,” Zhan said in the release. “We envision that this therapy could eventually become a viable treatment option for cocaine abuse.”