OliPass Corporation, announced to initiate a Phase 2a trial for SCN9A antisense pain killer OLP-1002 in Australia. In the Phase 2a trial of a two stage adaptive design in OA patients with pain, OLP-1002 shall be evaluated for analgesic efficacy, safety and therapeutic duration to confirm the target drug profiles as a first-line therapy for chronic pain. Long therapeutic duration is desired for good patient compliance, since OLP-1002 is currently developed for administration by subcutaneous injection. People with a loss-of-function mutation in the SCN9A gene (SCN9A channelopathy) were found insensitive to pain but with other sensory functions undisturbed. Given that the SCN9A gene encodes the Nav1.7 sodium ion channel subtype, selective inhibitors of Nav1.7 have been implicated to show strong analgesic efficacy and good safety. However, small molecule inhibitors of Nav1.7 to date have repeatedly failed to clinically manifest strong efficacy and good safety. OLP-1002 is an SCN9A antisense pain killer devised to show strong efficacy and good safety by reproducing much of the clinical phenotype of people with SCN9A channelopathy. OliPass is planning additional Phase 2a trial in the US for chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain (CINP). CINP may be taken as a good and realistic model system for neuropathic pain considering the mode of action of OLP-1002.