Building blocks for new medications

Werner Seebacher has discovered an alternative reaction pathway to synthesise new kinds of piperidin-4-ones that have the potential to significantly increase the range of therapeutic options they offer. Photo: University of Graz/Tzivanopoulos

The University of Graz is seeking a technology partner to manufacture promising pharmaceutical components

Painkillers and cancer medications, psychotherapeutic drugs, allergy medications – many substances used in the medical sciences are manufactured with the help of piperidin-4-ones. These are intermediates created by reactions with derivatives of ammonia. Werner Seebacher from the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Graz has discovered an alternative reaction pathway to synthesise new kinds of piperidin-4-ones that have the potential to significantly increase the range of therapeutic options they offer. The University of Graz is currently looking for a partner from the pharmaceutical industry to realise the potential of this technology.

The opiod fentanyl, which is used in anaesthesia and in the treatment of acute and chronic pain, is one of the most important drugs made with piperidin-4-ones. However, these intermediates are also essential for the manufacture of numerous other drugs with a wide range of medical applications.
“The synthesis technology we have developed gives us access to variants of piperidin-4-ones that cannot be obtained using traditional reaction pathways”, explains Werner Seebacher. “What is special about our piperidin-4-ones is that they can be further modified as required. This opens up a range of new therapeutic possibilities”, says Seebacher, emphasising the significance of this technology, for which a European patent is now pending.

Further research is needed to discover exactly what those possibilities are. The University of Graz is currently looking for an industrial partner to produce these promising molecular components on a large scale and to press ahead with their development into new substances.

>> technology offer

[Translate to English:]

Gudrun Pichler

Related news

Jurassic Sounds: Biologist reconstructs insect songs from 165 million years ago

It was apparently not just the roars of the dinosaurs that made up the soundscape of the animal world during the Jurassic period. Crickets and grasshoppers communicated through a variety of songs and high-pitched sounds, as Thorin Jonsson from the Institute of Biology at the University of Graz discovered together with colleagues from the universities of Lincoln, Bristol (UK), Beijing (China) and Tempe (USA). The findings on what are so far the oldest traces of sound on Earth have just been published in the journal PNAS.

EU funding boosts international exchange between universities

The University of Graz is further expanding its international study opportunities through the European university alliance Arqus and is taking the lead in two key projects. In future, students will benefit from even more joint degree programmes and from simplified recognition of academic achievements through the Joint European Degree Label.

Rescue and risks: Researchers have surveyed public perceptions of AI

The use of artificial intelligence has had to be made transparent since 2 August 2026. The EU’s AI Act, which has been in force since then, also sets out how risky an application is and which security measures apply as a result. However, the assessment of risks by the legislation differs in some cases significantly from the perceptions of the Austrian public. This is the finding of a representative study carried out by data scientist Stefan Thalmann from the University of Graz and his team.

The Healing Sea: Researchers discover new approaches to treating chronic inflammation in sponges

Chronic inflammation plays a key role in many diseases, ranging from metabolic disorders and cardiovascular diseases to tissue damage following injuries or infections. “Normally, the body is able to resolve inflammation on its own. If this process becomes unbalanced, immune cells remain permanently active and continue to drive negative changes in the tissue,” explains Andreas Koeberle, a pharmacist at the University of Graz.