New perspectives for chronic pain treatment: a patent review (2010-2016)

Introduction: Chronic pain is a major problem of public health worldwide and is responsible for the increase in health costs. The therapeutic options available in the market for the treatment of chronic pain are often rather ineffective due to; the high number of adverse reactions, tolerance and dependence, reducing the quality of life, pharmacotherapy adherence and functional capacity. Hence, several studies have been conducted in the search for new treatment alternatives for chronic pain syndromes.

Areas covered: This review brings together the therapeutic patents published over the past six years reporting the discovery of new drugs for the treatment of chronic pain, based on the perspective that these compounds are candidates for the management of chronic pain conditions.

Expert opinion: Over the past 6 years, several pharmaceutical companies, as well as universities and researchers, have synthesized a series of compounds, which have been shown to be effective in controlling chronic pain in preclinical studies. These findings nurture the hope of discovering new therapeutic options for chronic pain. However, such studies are in early stages and there is a long and hard path to be followed until these compounds can become chemical entities available to the public.