TSRI scientists create vaccine against dangerous designer opioids

(Scripps Research Institute) With use of synthetic opioid 'designer drugs' on the rise, scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have a new strategy to curb addiction and even prevent fatal overdoses. In a new study, the scientists report successful preclinical tests of a vaccine that prevents the synthetic opioid fentanyl -- which some drug dealers now use as a mix-in or substitute for heroin -- from reaching the brain.