N.Korea threats spur U.S. search for new radiation therapies

Statera Biopharma

31/01/2018 19:12

By Divya Grover 
    Jan 31 (Reuters) - The escalating threat of a potential 
nuclear war between North Korea and the United States has led 
the Department of Defense to join hands with a clutch of 
companies in developing more effective medical treatments for 
acute radiation syndrome.  
    The hostility between the two nations reached a new height 
last November after Pyongyang fired an intercontinental 
ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland. 
    Health officials in Washington say they have adequate stocks 
in the event of a nuclear attack and subsequent mass radiation 
poisonings. 
    But statements by a handful of drug developers and 
partnerships the government have announced suggest the DoD is 
stepping up efforts to develop stronger treatments that could 
protect the military and civilians ahead of a nuclear attack.  
    The DoD's budget allocated $3.9 million of its total funding 
to develop such medical countermeasures in 2018, an increase of 
$600,000 from a year ago.  
    However, the numbers available on a handful of contracts 
issued to firms including Cleveland BioLabs Inc  CBLI.O  and 
privately held Humanetics Corp show funding of at least $13 
million, suggesting that other departments of the military 
agency are investing in the area. 
    The reward for a successful drug developer is high: in 2013, 
the government spent $157 million to stockpile Amgen Inc's 
 AMGN.O  nearly three decades old drug, Neupogen, but it and 
other stockpile drugs are limited as they only treat certain 
after-effects of radiation exposure. 
    Medical experts say that the increased $700 billion military 
budget signed into law by President Donald Trump last month 
could put more emphasis on programs to counter the North Korean 
threat and may allow a large outlay for new treatments. 
    The new drugs in development for radiation exposure are 
designed to recover the loss of all three blood lineages - white 
and red blood cells, and platelets - without the need for 
multiple blood tests or prescreening.  
    Israel-based Pluristem Therapeutics Inc  PSTI.O , Cleveland 
BioLabs and privately held Neumedicines Inc are all in the final 
stages of developing their treatments, while Humanetics is yet 
to initiate an early-stage trial for its oral drug.  
    Pluristem has been developing an injectable drug, which 
could prevent or reduce the severity of radiation poisoning if 
taken before exposure.  
    "Additional funding for the U.S. military may support more 
rapid development of medical countermeasures," Pluristem's North 
America division's vice president Karine Kleinhaus said. 
    "Leukine, Neulasta, Neupogen each only targets recovery of a 
sub-population of white blood cells, with no effect on the other 
two lineages. Pre-determination of amount of radiation exposure 
and serial blood tests are ... not required for PLX-R18 
administration, making PLX-R18 more suitable in a mass casualty 
situation," Kleinhaus said of the company's experimental drug. 
    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 
also entered into a partnership last August with the 
government's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development 
Authority (BARDA) to develop drugs, focusing on the radiation 
issues experienced by astronauts. 
    NASA's radiology scientist Dr. Honglu Wu told Reuters there 
would certainly be interest in medicines that could be taken 
prior to the exposure of radiation.  
    Neumedicines Chief Executive Lena Basile, whose 
developmental drug HemaMax is a post-exposure therapy, said the 
pre-exposure treatments would be undermined because they are 
limited to military personnel or first responders.  
    "You cannot give pre-exposure drugs to the civilian 
population," she said. 
    Pluristem is also planning to expand its treatment for the 
use in cancer patients, the company's co-Chief Executive Yaky 
Yanay said, adding that the drug has a $1 billion market 
potential in revenue. 
    "If we are (going) to get to the chemotherapy market, we are 
looking at a much larger market." 
 
 (Reporting by Divya Grover in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick 
Graham and Bernard Orr) 
 ((Divya.Grover@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780, 
outside U.S. +91 80 6749 3859; Reuters Messaging: 
divya.grover@thomsonreuters.com.net)) 
 
Keywords: USA RADIATION/TREATMENTS