Israeli drugmaker BiolineRx has signed a licensing agreement with Gevys Pharmaceuticals for the development and commercialization of a novel approach for the treatment of acute and chronic pain. Under the agreement, Gevys will receive royalties on future sales or any form of revenue from the drug.

The drug is a combination of three products currently available on the market -- a treatment for pain and two other products that work on the vagus nerve located in the brain stem, thereby increasing efficacy and enabling treatment with lower dosages. The pain treatment, whose name the company has not disclosed, is characterized by acute side effects when used in high dosages, and by patient tolerance to the drug, thereby reducing its efficacy over time. Preclinical trials have shown that the combination of the drugs enables the reduction of the dosage by two levels, thereby resolving the problems caused by tolerance and side effects, which do not present in small dosages of the drug. The two drugs that operate on the vagus nerve do not have any substantial side effects when taken in small doses.