The Eden Prairie drug company Humanetics Corp. said it received licenses to develop and market two experimental treatments that aim to protect people from radiation's effects during cancer treatment and terrorist attacks.
One pill could reduce harmful effects within 24 hours of exposure, while the other would be for cases in which more time had passed, Humanetics said. The company said it hopes to begin human clinical trials on cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy in two years.
Humanetics received the licenses through an agreement with the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Humanetics, whose main source of revenue is selling wholesale dietary ingredients for weight loss, has been working on developing a drug called Bio 300, which aims to protect civilians and the military from radiation harm from nuclear devices and other attacks. Unlike Bio 300, the two new treatments could be given to patients after such an attack happens.
Experts said there is also demand for such a product in cancer treatment. In radiation therapy, doctors must weigh how much radiation to use, while minimizing the risk of harm to healthy tissue.
"It's kind of a battle between those two sides of the equation," said Dr. Benjamin Movsas, chairman of the radiation oncology department at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. "The problem is, at some point, you reach a threshold and you can't get much beyond that because you cause too much normal tissue injury surrounding the target."
Movsas said that in general, researchers are currently looking at cholesterol-lowering drugs such as statins and blood pressure drugs known as ACE inhibitors as potential compounds to reduce harm from radiation in cancer therapy. He declined to comment specifically on which compounds Humanetics is using in its treatments.
The company is developing the drugs with an eye toward both civilians and the military. The company said the treatments have worked in animals and in laboratory tests.
