Men looking for a better sex life might someday own their thanks to a spider. A Brazilian pharmaceutical company is developing a topical treatment for erectile dysfunction derived from the venom of Phoneutria nigriventer, aka the Brazilian wandering spider. The treatment has already cleared an early human trial and will soon be tested in a Phase II study.
P. nigriventer, also sometimes called the banana spider, is a relatively large and notorious arachnid in South America. Its bite in humans can cause elevated heart rate, convulsions, shock, and even death. But it can also cause priapism, a condition where the penis remains erect for hours on end. While priapism can be painful and even permanently damaging to the penis in severe cases, the bite’s unusual side-effect has long interested scientists looking for the next Viagra. Research on the venom has been ongoing for over a decade. And it seems that all that work is finally about to pay off.
Researchers at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil say they’ve created a synthetic version of the active ingredient in the venom responsible for causing erections, called BZ371A. The compound has been patented and is being further developed as a treatment by the company Biozeus. It’s used as a topical gel applied to the penis and appears to increase blood flow by increasing levels of nitric oxide, a molecule crucial to having erections.
Earlier this year, Biozeus announced that BZ371A has successfully passed a Phase I trial in humans. Phase I trials are mainly intended to confirm a drug’s safety, and BZ371A appeared to be well tolerated by the volunteers without causing any systemic side effects (often an advantage with topical treatments). The company is now forging ahead with a larger Phase II trial, set to start this month.
“Tests, so far, have demonstrated that the compound works with the application of a minimum amount and without any toxicity, as it is practically not detected in the bloodstream,” said Maria Elena de Lima, one of the drug’s developers and a professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, in a statement translated from Portuguese using Google.
Viagra and similar drugs are already pretty effective at treating erectile dysfunction. But not everyone responds to them and others have medical conditions or drug interactions that preclude their use. Biozeus claims that BZ371A relies on a novel mechanism of action, suggesting that it might be an attractive option for these individuals.
According to clinicaltrials.gov, the company’s Phase II trial will test BZ371A on patients who have undergone prostate removal, which can damage the nerves responsible for maintaining an erection. It will involve 72 people, who will be assigned into one of three groups. Some will receive a low dose of tadalafil (the active ingredient in Cialis) along with a topical placebo, others will get BZ371A plus a pill placebo, and the third group will receive both BZ371A and tadalafil. The study is expected to be completed by April 2024.
While the most attention-grabbing application of BZ371A might be for erectile dysfunction, the company is also testing whether it can help treat certain eye and lung diseases as well.