Tetrodocain is a North Korean medical injection produced by the Korea Jangsaeng Joint Venture Company, first claimed to have been invented in 2004. Its active ingredient is tetrodotoxin extracted from puffer fish poison, and it is presented as an anaesthetic agent. North Korea's state news agency has claimed the drug treats cancer, tuberculosis, chronic hepatitis, pancreatitis, HIV and AIDS, and narcotics addiction, but independent assessment has found these claims to be either exaggerated or false, with documented evidence limited mostly to its anaesthetic action. The product has been marketed for export through websites based in Russia and China, and North Korea released a clinical research thesis on its anaesthetic applications in 2015. Independent verification of its broader therapeutic claims remains lacking.
Facts
Partially Attested
Mechanism of ActionIts stated active ingredient, tetrodotoxin, blocks voltage-gated sodium channels 2 The source describes tetrodotoxin, which the existing Tetrodocain record names as its active ingredient, and not the finished North Korean product, whose composition has not been independently verified. Significant RiskIts stated active ingredient, tetrodotoxin, is highly toxic 2 The source describes tetrodotoxin, the stated active ingredient, and not the finished North Korean product, whose composition has not been independently verified. Mechanism of ActionThe source describes tetrodotoxin, the stated active ingredient, and not the finished North Korean product, whose composition has not been independently verified. Open Questions
Approved UseAdvertised by North Korean trade companies in 2005 as an antidote detoxifying narcotics such as opium, cocaine and heroin; unverified 3 Only a 2005 trade-news report of how North Korean trade companies advertised the product; no regulatory approval was found, so the use is a marketing claim and not an approved indication. Classification
ATC ClassSourced to the subject's own account Sources
1. Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System (Wikipedia)
WikipediaFirst-level anatomical group codes, Code NQuote, First-level anatomical group codes, Code N
Nervous system
2. Addressing the Issue of Tetrodotoxin Targeting (Marine Drugs, 2018)
Abstract, first sentence
a potent non-protein specific blocker of voltage-gated sodium (NaV) channels
Introduction, toxicity and clinical use
Its high toxicity and the ambiguous results of a few clinical studies prevented its implementation in medicine.
View the Source3. The Worst North Korean Export Goods in 2005 (Daily NK)
Section: Tetrodocain is an antidote developed by a narcotics producerQuote, Section: Tetrodocain is an antidote developed by a narcotics producer
Tetrodocain was said to be an antidote detoxifying such narcotics as opium, cocaine, and heroin
Tetrodocain (Wikipedia)
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