Could these opioid alternatives treat pain and prevent addiction?

While the U.S. opioid addiction epidemic still rages, prescriptions of painkillers have been getting a skeptical eye. Many people who now suffer from opioid addiction and abuse started taking them as part of a pain-killer regimen. And the trend is killing people—up to a person a day in some states, according to New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.

But now there might be a way to deliver the pain-killing punch of opioids without the brain-altering component than can lead to addiction, reports Business Insider.

One company, called Nektar Therapeutics, is looking for a way to make an opioid that won’t make the person taking it feel high. (A euphoric feeling that comes with that type of pain reliever is often what leads to addiction.) The new drug, called NKTR-181, gets inside the brain too slowly to cause a high.

Another company, Epiodyne, has a drug that could kill pain without interfering with dopamine levels in the brain, the chemical that both relieves pain but causes the good feeling that can get patients addicted.

Other efforts by the pharmaceutical industry include making pills that can’t be crushed up or liquefied for injection or snorting.

Check out Business Insider to see how these three methods differ from each other and which might work best in different situations.