Weill Cornell Gets $635K for Non-Opioid Pain Drug Study

A two-year NIH grant worth up to $1.24 million will fund research on a new delivery method for an experimental neuropathic pain medication.

Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Arthritis

Isometric editorial illustration of a clear glass vial beside a micropipette on a teal bench, with a faint antibody-shaped lattice in muted oxblood and cream. — Weill Cornell Medicine received more than $635,000 in first-year NIH funding to develop a new delivery method for an experimental non-opioid pain drug. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Should the federal government fund more research into non-opioid pain medications?

Weill Cornell Medicine has received more than $635,000 in first-year funding from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for a two-year grant worth up to $1.24 million. The grant supports development of a new delivery approach for BP4L-18:1:1, an experimental non-opioid medication intended to relieve neuropathic pain.

Why it matters

About 116 million adults in the United States live with chronic pain, and neuropathic pain accounts for about 18 percent of those patients prescribed opioids, which are typically not effective against it. A non-opioid option that targets this pain type could offer an alternative for patients in New York City and beyond.

The grant award totals up to $1.24 million over two years, with more than $635,000 received in the first year, and preclinical work found BP4L-18:1:1 blocks HCN1, the channel most common in human pain-sensing nerve cells. Whether the planned antibody delivery system will work as intended has not yet been tested.

The players

Weill Cornell Medicine

Weill Cornell Medicine is the medical school of Cornell University and the institution receiving the grant to study the experimental pain medication.

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is a component of the National Institutes of Health that funds neurological research across the United States.

Peter A. Goldstein

Peter A. Goldstein is a professor of anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medicine and the principal investigator leading the study of BP4L-18:1:1.

The details

Principal investigator Dr. Peter A. Goldstein, a professor of anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medicine, is leading the study of a new delivery approach for BP4L-18:1:1. The team plans to attach a monoclonal antibody variant to the drug to enable more precise, tissue-specific targeting and reduce the originally high dose.

The first year of the two-year grant has delivered more than $635,000 to Weill Cornell Medicine.
The two-year grant period funds the study with a total value of up to $1.24 million.

Roadmap

Federal funding through the National Institutes of Health has increasingly targeted non-opioid pain treatments as an alternative to opioids, which are typically ineffective against neuropathic pain. This grant advances that effort by funding a targeted delivery method for an experimental non-opioid candidate.

If developed successfully, a non-opioid option could offer patients with neuropathic pain a treatment that does not rely on opioids, which are typically not effective for this type of pain. The new delivery approach is intended to reduce the dose and avoid central nervous system side effects, though the drug remains experimental.

The takeaway

Federal grant funding is helping advance non-opioid options for neuropathic pain, a condition opioids often fail to treat. Patients should watch for further trial results before expecting any new treatment to become available.