Reduction of postoperative pain and opioid consumption by VVZ-149, first-in-class analgesic molecule: A confirmatory phase 3 trial of laparoscopic colectomy.

Study objective: VVZ-149 is a small molecule that inhibits the glycine transporter type 2 and the serotonin receptor 5-hydroxytryptamine 2 A. In this Phase 3 study, we investigated the efficacy and safety of VVZ-149 as a single-use injectable analgesic for treating moderate to severe postoperative pain after laparoscopic colectomy.

Design: Randomized, parallel group, double-blind, Phase 3 clinical trial (Trial no. NCT05764525).

Setting: 5 tertiary referral centers in South Korea.

Patients: 284 patients undergoing laparoscopic colectomy.

Interventions: A continuous 10-h intravenous infusion of VVZ-149 (n = 141) or placebo (n = 143) administered after emergence from anesthesia.

Measurements: Pain intensity was assessed using a numeric rating scale (NRS) from the start of infusion for 48 h. The primary efficacy measure was the Sum of Pain Intensity Difference (SPID) for the first 12 h after the start of drug infusion. Other efficacy measures included SPID at other time points, opioid consumption via on-demand patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) and rescue medication, and proportion of patients who did not require rescue opioids for 48 h post-dose.

Main results: Pain relief as measured by SPID was significantly improved by 35 % in the VVZ-149 group compared to the placebo group at 6 h (p = 0.0193) and 12 h (p = 0.0047) after the start of infusion. Significantly lower pain intensity scores were observed between 4-10 h in the VVZ-149 group compared to the placebo group (p = 0.0007), reaching mild pain (mean NRS <4) at 8 h. VVZ-149 alleviated pain during the first 12 h post-dose with 30.8 % less opioid consumption and 60.2 % fewer PCA requests when compared with placebo. A higher proportion of patients receiving VVZ-149 were rescue opioid-free during 2-6 h (p = 0.0026) and 6-12 h (p = 0.0024) compared with the placebo group. VVZ-149 administration in post-colectomy patients was generally safe and well tolerated.

Conclusions: When compared to placebo, VVZ-149 infusion demonstrated a significant reduction of pain within the first 12 h after surgery with a substantial decrease in opioid use. VVZ-149 rapidly lowers the pain intensity starting at as early as 4 h post-dose, allowing subjects to experience mild pain levels from 8 h through 48 h. Therefore, the analgesic effect of VVZ-149 was shown to effectively relieve pain and reduce opioid use for treating moderate to severe pain in the early postoperative care setting.

Registration number: Trial Number NCT05764525.