Local Company Looks To Revive Nuclear Antidote Project KGTV San Diego
POSTED: 7:01 pm PDT March 17, 2011
SAN DIEGO -- Efforts are under way to revive a San Diego-based company's research for a nuclear antidote. Representatives of Harbor Biosciences said the company was about a year way from producing a nuclear antidote when a surprise stalled the drug's development. Four years after the company's research was suspended, Harbor Biosciences CEO James Frincke said the images of a potential nuclear catastrophe in Japan are heartbreaking and frustrating to watch. "It's gut-wrenching. You're helpless knowing the technology is here and we can make it happen," said Frincke. The company's drug, Neumune, was developed to treat radiation poisoning under the government's BioShield program. "We modeled it to how many people would be exposed during a Hiroshima-type bomb," said Frincke. In animation the company showed 10News, a nuclear bomb explodes in Manhattan, exposing thousands to radiation. The radiation invades the bone marrow, destroying white blood cells and platelets that defend against infection, before attacking the organs. If Neumune is injected into a person, it combats the radiation by quickly replenishing bone marrow cells. After $85 million of research, published studies revealed promising results in primates and human trials with no side effects. "In experiments, we've had a 100 percent success, in terms of saving lives," said Frincke. Company leaders said they were two trials and one year away from mass production when the Department of Health and Human Services announced in 2007 it wouldn't be buying the drug. "We were surprised and disappointed," said Frincke. Analysts speculated the federal government was turning from a market-driven approach to government-directed research partnering with academia. The company suspended its research, but 4 years later, there are attempts to revive it. Dozens of letters to President Obama and other high-ranking officials and politicians reminding them of Neumune will be mailed this week, sent by the company. According to the company, Neumune is meant to treat acute radiation sickness hours after the exposure. In a statement, the Department of Health and Human Services said Harbor Biosciences is welcome to resubmit an application to sell Neumune. The agency declined to specify why the drug was not ordered and said Harbor Biosciences "did not meet the technical requirements." When 10News asked if they would reconsider Neumune, a department representative said all companies are welcome to "submit proposals for consideration."
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