New drugs are urgently developed for the victims of nuclear contamination

French biotechnology company Medesis Pharma has asked the Defense Innovation Agency for funds to accelerate the development of three drugs for mass use in different scenarios of nuclear contamination of the population.

The three experimental drugs are designed to treat large populations that have been contaminated or irradiated as a result of either civil nuclear accidents, warfare or terrorist acts.

The need to accelerate the work on drugs of this type results both from the tragic situation in Ukraine and its geopolitical consequences, as well as from the latest decisions of many countries to maintain the development of nuclear energy. The drugs are developed in collaboration with the French Atomic Energy Commission (LRT-CEA), which has conducted studies on animals contaminated with radionuclides, and with the Armed Forces Biomedical Research Institute (IRBA) for irradiated animals.

The already completed studies on animals have demonstrated the high therapeutic efficacy of the new preparations. Now it is imperative to conduct tolerance and safety studies in healthy volunteers.

The first of the preparations under development (NanoCaDTPA) is a new, oral form of the intravenous CaDTPA drug used for 4 decades, designed to remove plutonium from the body. Intravenous administration of this preparation is possible only in hospital conditions, which in practice excludes its use on a larger scale, e.g. in the event of contamination of tens or hundreds of thousands of people. The new formulation of CaDTPA in a microemulsion allows for the same extraction efficiency of plutonium, but with simple oral administration. What is also important - the new preparation can be stored at room temperature.

Another preparation (NanoPB) is to eliminate cesium from the body. The active substance in this case is Prussian blue, which has been used for this purpose for years. However, so far it is administered in the form of large capsules of 500 mg in a dose of 18 capsules daily for 2-3 months. Therefore, it is practically not suitable for use in children. Moreover, the water-insoluble Prussian blue works essentially only in the digestive tract, while cesium is preferentially bound in the muscles and especially in the myocardium, causing cardiological pathologies, especially in children and adolescents. Moreover, the classic, insoluble in the form of Prussian blue, leads to persistent constipation, which in this case means the risk of irradiation of the pelvic organs. The new formulation - NanoPB - consists of Prussian Blue nanoparticles synthesized and stabilized in a microemulsion. This allows you to shorten the cesium removal process three times with 100 times less Prussian blue. The preparation is drinkable and can be used at any age, even in infants.

The third drug is NanoManganese - manganese sulfate in a microemulsion. This substance inhibits and mitigates the effects (responsible for inflammation of the respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract and death) of the cytokine storm caused by radiation. The use of manganese sulfate is effective if treatment is started within a few hours of irradiation. The drug is administered orally and stored at room temperature. Interestingly, manganese sulfate is currently in a Phase II clinical trial in Brazil for the treatment of severe forms of COVID-19.

Source: Euronext