Oxymorphone is an opioid analgesic used in the management of moderate-to-severe pain and for analgesic therapies. An opioid analgesic with actions and uses similar to those of morphine, apart from an absence of cough suppressant activity.
- Mechanism
- Curator reviewed
Oxymorphone interacts predominantly with the opioid mu-receptor. These mu-binding sites are discretely distributed in the human brain, with high densities in the posterior amygdala, hypothalamus, thalamus, nucleus caudatus, putamen, and certain cortical areas. They are also found on the terminal axons of primary afferents within laminae I and II (substantia gelatinosa) of the spinal cord and in the spinal nucleus of the trigeminal nerve. Also, it has been shown that oxymorphone binds to and inhibits GABA inhibitory interneurons via mu-receptors. These interneurons normally inhibit the descending pain inhibition pathway. So, without the inhibitory signals, pain modulation can proceed downstream.
- Primary indication
- For the treatment of moderate-to-severe pain.Curator reviewed · 5 structured indications
- Formula / weight
- C17H19NO4 · 301.3371 g/mol (avg)
- First approval
- Canada, 2001 · United States, 1959
- Also known as
- Dihydrohydroxymorphinone · Dihydroxymorphinone · Oximorphonum
- Code names
- IDS-NO-003 · NIH 10323 · NSC-19045
- Brand names
Resolves to
UQCNKQCJZOAFTQ-ISWURRPUSA-NSMILES[H][C@@]12OC3=C(O)C=CC4=C3[C@@]11CCN(C)[C@]([H])(C4)[C@]1(O)CCC2=OWhat you can answer from here — as of October 01, 2026
Which drugs share a target with Oxymorphone, and which of those have an active Phase 3 trial?
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