R-4066 (Spirodone) is a drug which is an analogue of the

opioid Opioids are substances that act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects. Medically they are primarily used for pain relief, including anesthesia. Other medical uses include suppression of diarrhea, replacement therapy for opioid us ...

analgesic An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It ...

methadone Methadone, sold under the brand names Dolophine and Methadose among others, is a synthetic opioid agonist used for chronic pain and also for opioid dependence. It is used to treat chronic pain, and it is also used to treat addiction to heroin ...

, or more accurately norpipanone, where the metabolically labile dimethylamino group has been replaced by a piperidinospiro group. Developed by Janssen Pharmaceutica, it is around 212x more potent than methadone as an analgesic in animal tests, with an effective oral dosage of 0.07 mg/kg, but is shorter acting, with a duration of action of around 3 hours. If the ketone function is reduced and acetylated, the racemate 106 x methadone and has an analgesic duration of 20.5 hours compared to 8 hours for methadone. R-4066 has never been used in humans, but would be expected to produce effects similar to those of other potent opioid agonists, including strong

analgesia Pain management is an aspect of medicine and health care involving relief of pain (pain relief, analgesia, pain control) in various dimensions, from acute and simple to chronic and challenging. Most physicians and other health professionals ...

sedation Sedation is the reduction of irritability or agitation by administration of sedative drugs, generally to facilitate a medical procedure or diagnostic procedure. Examples of drugs which can be used for sedation include isoflurane, diethyl ether, ...

euphoria Euphoria ( ) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and da ...

constipation Constipation is a bowel dysfunction that makes bowel movements infrequent or hard to pass. The stool is often hard and dry. Other symptoms may include abdominal pain, bloating, and feeling as if one has not completely passed the bowel movement ...

itching Itch (also known as pruritus) is a sensation that causes the desire or reflex to scratch. Itch has resisted many attempts to be classified as any one type of sensory experience. Itch has many similarities to pain, and while both are unpleasan ...

and

respiratory depression Hypoventilation (also known as respiratory depression) occurs when ventilation is inadequate (''hypo'' meaning "below") to perform needed respiratory gas exchange. By definition it causes an increased concentration of carbon dioxide (hypercapnia ...

which could be harmful or fatal.

References

Opioids Ketones Nitrogen heterocycles Mu-opioid receptor agonists Spiro compounds Abandoned drugs {{analgesic-stub category:Belgian inventions