Epibatidine

Epibatidine is an alkaloid that originally is found in the skin of a neotropical poisonous frog, Epipedobates tricolor, found in modern Ecuador. It was initially isolated by John Daly at the National Institutes of Health, and was found to be a powerful analgesic, about 200 times more potent than morphine. Because the natural source of epibatidine can only supply a small quantity, several laboratory syntheses have been developed.

Interestingly, the compound is not an opioid; instead, it is similar to nicotine and appears to act by binding and activating nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. While epibatidine may be too toxic to use in clinical practice, the compound represents a new lead in the drug design of new analgesics.