Drug Discovery for Snakebite Envenoming: Wanderings Amid Historical Antidotes and Emerging Therapeutic Opportunities
- 1Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences University of Perugia Perugia Italy
- 2Swiss Society for the History of Pharmacy Zurich Switzerland
Abstract
Snakebite envenoming is acknowledged as neglected tropical disease affecting populations of regions with limited access to healthcare systems. However, it had posed a major threat to human health since classical antiquity, when plant‐ and animal‐based remedies were extensively used as antidotes to counteract bites by venomous snakes. Although the provision of safe and effective treatments by 2030 is among the strategic objectives of the World Health Organization, clinically approved therapies currently available remain animal‐derived polyclonal antibodies, which suffer from significant limitations, including high production costs, limited cross‐species efficacy, and risk of adverse immune reactions. In this review, we survey some historical antidotes used to treat snakebite envenoming in classical antiquity and early modern Europe such as theriac, mithridatum, Orvietan and Mattioli's scorpion oil. We then discuss natural compounds that, while found also as active ingredients in medical plants used for the preparation of the historical antidotes, over the last decades have inspired research efforts aimed at characterizing their evidence‐based antivenom activity with the aim of offering potential alternatives to biologic‐based therapies. Finally, we outline emerging therapeutic opportunities that, arising from drug repurposing efforts, may pave the way for the development of novel, broadly effective therapies against multiple venomous snake species.
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BibTeX
@article{bianconi2026drug,
title = {{Drug Discovery for Snakebite Envenoming: Wanderings Amid Historical Antidotes and Emerging Therapeutic Opportunities}},
author = {Elisa Bianconi and Emidio Camaioni and Paulina Oszajca and Antonio Macchiarulo},
journal = {ChemMedChem},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1002/cmdc.70478},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13723273},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Drug Discovery for Snakebite Envenoming: Wanderings Amid Historical Antidotes and Emerging Therapeutic Opportunities
AU - Elisa Bianconi
AU - Emidio Camaioni
AU - Paulina Oszajca
AU - Antonio Macchiarulo
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/31
JO - ChemMedChem
DO - 10.1002/cmdc.70478
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13723273
AB - Snakebite envenoming is acknowledged as neglected tropical disease affecting populations of regions with limited access to healthcare systems. However, it had posed a major threat to human health since classical antiquity, when plant‐ and animal‐based remedies were extensively used as antidotes to counteract bites by venomous snakes. Although the provision of safe and effective treatments by 2030 is among the strategic objectives of the World Health Organization, clinically approved therapies currently available remain animal‐derived polyclonal antibodies, which suffer from significant limitations, including high production costs, limited cross‐species efficacy, and risk of adverse immune reactions. In this review, we survey some historical antidotes used to treat snakebite envenoming in classical antiquity and early modern Europe such as theriac, mithridatum, Orvietan and Mattioli's scorpion oil. We then discuss natural compounds that, while found also as active ingredients in medical plants used for the preparation of the historical antidotes, over the last decades have inspired research efforts aimed at characterizing their evidence‐based antivenom activity with the aim of offering potential alternatives to biologic‐based therapies. Finally, we outline emerging therapeutic opportunities that, arising from drug repurposing efforts, may pave the way for the development of novel, broadly effective therapies against multiple venomous snake species.
SN - 1860-7179
SN - 1860-7187
ER -