The U.S. company Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals is developing a new drug that could help protect against radiation exposure from a nuclear blast or “dirty bomb” detonation, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, Feb. 3).

The drug, HE-2100, appears to offer significant protection against radiation sickness, which would kill many more people than a nuclear blast, military officials and experts said.  Radiation damages the body’s immune system, leading to fatalities from infections occurring one to six weeks after exposure, medical experts said.  HE-2100 strengthens the immune system, especially the infection-fighting abilities of bone marrow, which is most vulnerable to radiation, according to the Post.

HE-2100 appears to offer protection against radiation sickness when given before exposure, as well as a few hours after exposure or even later, according to the Post.  Currently, there are no treatments available for administration post-exposure, according to experts.

With its apparent ability to prevent radiation-caused infections in the time span following a nuclear blast, the drug can apparently “bring people over that hump in time, where, without it, they would die,” said David Grdina, a professor of radiation and cellular oncology at the University of Chicago.

More research still needs to be conducted on HE-2100 to prove its effectiveness and safety in humans, experts said.  Animal testing conducted with the drug has indicated that it will work in humans and not be toxic, radiation experts said.

U.S. military officials are enthusiastic about HE-2100, the Post reported.

“We want it on the fast track,” said Navy Adm. James Zimble, president of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md.  “We’ve been very encouraged by the very positive results” of animal testing, he said (John Mintz, Washington Post, May 19).

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