The lowly opossum may one day bring relief for snake bites, new information shows.

Scientists say they are able to create a protein derived from opossums that can neutralize the bite of the Western Diamondback rattlesnake and the Pakistan snake, Russell's Viper and published their results in a new study, ScienceDaily reported.

About 421,000 people are bitten by poisonous snakes every year, according to statistics provided by the research team. Out of those people, 20,000 die. Most of these deaths happen in remote sections of India, Africa, Southeast Asia and South America, where medical help may come too late. Because the new process is inexpensive, the antivenom has a good chance of being distributed to underserved areas across the globe, the team said. 

Jill Heatley, associate professor of veterinary medicine at Texas A&M University's College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, said a person bitten by a venomous snake often pays $50,000 or more for hospitalization, according to ScienceDaily.

Opossums don't seem to have any problem with snake bites, shaking off poisonous snake bite much in the way humans react to gnat or mosquito bites.

Claire Kornives, Ph.D., the leader of the San Jose State University team, said she is hopeful that the antivenom could be used against a range of poisonous reptiles, as well as against toxins from bacteria and possibly scorpions.

The team responsible for the latest breakthrough explained that initial hints about the possibility of using opossum-derived protein were first discovered in the 1940s, but nobody followed up on the information.  

The researchers are preparing to go through the process and try out their antivenom on mice, they said. The team will present its work at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society.