New Radiation Treatment Significantly Increases Survival Rate

A new drug treatment that mimics a naturally occurring compound found in blueberries and coffee has been developed to treat radiation exposure.

Charles R. Yates, PharmD., PhD, and colleagues Duane Miller, PhD, and Waleed Gaber, PhD, from Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, TX, USA) and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (Memphis, USA), revealed that by using this drug, starting 24 hours after radiation exposure, increases survival in animal models by three-fold compared to placebo.

The research was presented at the 2012 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) annual meeting and exposition, held October 2012 in Chicago, IL, USA. “Development of drugs for individuals who are exposed to high-dose radiation in a public health emergency has been a priority since the 9/11 terrorist attacks,” said Dr. Yates. “The ultimate goal is wide dissemination of non-invasive treatments after 24 hours of a mass casualty.”

The increased chances of vomiting after radiation exposure is problematic for oral treatments, the most typical noninvasive delivery approach. Injectable agents are frequently proposed as the next line of therapy, which comes with its own difficulties. Training for instance, is frequently required for injections. To fight this problem, Dr. Yates and his team designed a new delivery system that can be applied directly to the skin, similar to an adhesive bandage.
“We are extremely proud to have exclusive rights to this exciting technology,” said W. Shannon McCool, DPh, president and CEO of RxBio, the entity that has licensed the technology from the University of Tennessee Research Foundation.

This drug is also highly effective in models where radiation exposure is combined with skin wounds--a likely scenario in which people are exposed to shrapnel from dirty bombs or from associated burn wounds.

Related Links:
Baylor College of Medicine
University of Tennessee Health Science Center