Scientists have used an innovative screening process to produce the biggest anaesthetics breakthrough in 40 years.

By developing a method of refining possible general anaesthetics candidates, the scientists at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania were able to identify two completely new potential anaesthetics, which are structurally different and may be safer than current drugs.

This process represents a whole new approach to developing anaesthetics, making it possible to create new alternatives that address current safety issues.

Until now, no new anaesthetic classes had been developed since the 1970s; since then research has instead focused on improving safety by modifying existing compounds.

The technique, which has previously been used in the development of therapeutic drugs, involved screening 350,000 compounds for their ability to bind to a particular protein, before refining them by structure.

The remaining few were tested for anaesthetic properties on tadpoles and then mice, allowing the scientists to identify two drug candidates.

The lead author of the study and professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr Roderic G Eckenhoff, stressed that the significance of the study was on the new method, rather than the resulting drug candidates.

“The anesthetics identified by this approach require further development before they can be considered for use in the OR,” he said. “However, the study results show that novel anesthetics do exist, and that we need not restrict ourselves to small modifications of existing drugs.”

“While physician anesthesiologists have improved the safety of anesthesia over the years, there are still many risks associated with general anesthesia. And yet, no new anesthetics have been developed for more than 40 years.

“We are only beginning to understand the actual mechanisms that allow general anesthetics to achieve an anesthetized state, and this study is a breakthrough into that world.”

The development is part of a growing trend in drug development to develop faster methods for drug candidate discovery, cutting years – and in some cases decades – off the process.

The technique is always tailored to the target in question, but is based on the principle of batch screening a required interaction before using other requirements to cut the remaining group to a handful for more detailed testing.

In this case, the the compounds were tested for their ability to bind to a surrogate anesthetic binding protein target – something that can play the role of the protein the anesthetic binds to – known as apoferritin.

Of the 350,000 compounds, around 2,600 interacted strongly with apoferritin, and those with the most promising structures were selected for further animal testing.

The study was published in the February edition of Anesthesiology, the journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

Journal reference: The Journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists 2 2015, Vol.122, 325-333. doi:10.1097/ALN.0000000000000505