Current analgesic treatments have significant limitations, as they very often affect the entire organism and can generate adverse effects due to systemic drug exposure. In the Druglight4Pain consortium, we propose an innovative strategy based on a new non-opioid therapeutic target that can be utilized through light-sensitive compounds, activated only locally and at specific times. This allows for localized and reversible pain control, reducing systemic drug exposure and improving safety. The project combines advances in chemistry and biomedicine to develop new, safer, and more effective therapeutic solutions, contributing to improving patients’ quality of life.