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Brendon Nafziger, DOTmed News Associate Editor | September 30, 2011
On top of these grants, BARDA is extending its 2010 contract with Cellerant Therapeutics for another year. With the new $16.7 million award, the San Carlos, Calif.-based startup will continue to study CLT-008, a drug derived from adult stem cells. According to early studies, it could help the body re-grow white or red blood cells for protection from infection and internal bleeding while recovering from radiation exposure. BARDA first gave Cellerant about $11 million in 2008 in its initial contract. Last year, the agency signed a five-year deal with Cellerant worth up to $153 million, depending on performance.
Oral chelating agent
But not all the research is for new drugs. BARDA has also given Nanotherapeutics Inc. of Alachua, Fla. a year-and-a-half-long, $4.8 million contract for improving the manufacturing process for diethylenetriaminepentaacetate (DTPA). A chelating agent, DTPA binds to certain radioactive particles, such as americium, curium or plutonium, and helps remove them from the body. These are the types of particles that could be inhaled, or enter through wounds, after the explosion of a radiological or dirty bomb.
DTPA is approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but in its current forms it generally has to be used intravenously. But the new formula, NanoDTPA, could be taken by mouth, making it potentially more useful during an emergency.
"This is the first contract BARDA has awarded for the advanced development of an oral chelating agent to treat internal radiation contamination, and represents a milestone for our program," BARDA Director Robin Robinson said in a statement.
Previously, BARDA has developed and bought two other chelating agents, Ca-DTPA and Zn-DTPA. The agency said it's also supporting the development of a liquid version of Prussian blue, a non-chelating drug for treating contamination with cesium-137, a radioactive isotope that could be shed into the environment during a nuclear attack or power plant accident.
Nanotherapeutics' contract can be extended for up to five years, for a total worth of up to $31.1 million, BARDA said.
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