The Defense Department is betting $224 million that Columbia-based Osiris Therapeutics? patented stem cells can reduce gastrointestinal damage caused by exposure to a radiological weapon.
Osiris? contract with the department will enable the company to develop and stockpile its adult stem cell therapy, Prochymal, to reduce damage from radiation exposure from “dirty” bombs or other weapons.
“We are honored that the Department of Defense has selected Prochymal in this critical effort to better safeguard our armed forces against the potentially horrendous effects of battlefield exposure to a radiological weapon,” said C. Randal Mills, Osiris president and CEO.
A terrorist?s dirty bomb might affect hundreds of thousands of people, Mills said, making it impractical to determine who needs immediate doses of metal chelates, which bind and flush out radioactive particles. When patients arrive in the emergency room, however, Prochymal can help prevent their intestines from rupturing and help heal existing damage.
Prochymal, developed from a stem cell found in one of every 100,000 bone-marrow cells, could relieve inflammation that causes intestinal damage in people exposed to massive doses of radiation, Mills said.
“Prochymal has the ability to … repair tissues damaged by inflammation,” Mills said. “There are some experimental approaches where you can hasten the removal of radiation. But for the most part, so much of the damage is done by the instant of exposure.”
The first symptoms of acute radiation sickness typically are skin burns, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. These symptoms can start immediately and last for minutes or months, depending on the severity of exposure, and patients may also appear to get better before succumbing to repeated waves of sickness.
Destruction of bone marrow as late as several months after exposure can result in infections, internal bleeding and, ultimately, death.
For survivors, recovery may take from several weeks to two years.
Under the terms of the contract, the Defense Department will fund development of a radiation-specific formula of Prochymal in two stages, starting with $4.2 million in 2008. Upon Food and Drug Administration approval, thecontract provides for the purchase of up to 20,000 doses, at $10,000 per dose.
