Robert O. Messing, associate director of the Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research, reported on drug development to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism’s advisory council in June, at NIAAA headquarters in Rockville, Maryland.

Messing discussed his lab's preclinical drug discovery studies with compounds that look promising in treating alcohol use disorder and associated conditions.  Experiments in his lab show that compounds inhibiting the enzyme protein kinase C epsilon reduce alcohol consumption in mice.   He noted that additional testing is necessary to optimize the efficacy and safety of the compounds as drug treatments.  See slide presentation here:  Developing PKC Epsilon Inhibitors to Treat Alcohol Use Disorder

The 15-member advisory council identifies and recommends addiction research priorities to the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the director of the National Institutes of Health.