Epistem announce collaboration with Humanetics Corporation

28-Jul-2008

EpiStem announced that it has been selected by Humanetics Corporation of Minnesota, USA, to provide specialised preclinical efficacy testing services for agents likely to protect the intestinal epithelium from subsequent radiation damage. Under an appropriation award to Humanetics from the US Department of Defense, over the next 12 months Epistem will screen potential drug candidates that may ultimately be adopted by the Armed Forces as prophylactic agents to be taken where there is risk of radiation exposure or nuclear attack. Such agents should reduce the level of intestinal related radiation sickness and improve morbidity and mortality.

John L. Zenk, MD, the Chief Medical and Scientific Officer at Humanetics said "The tests performed by Epistem should identify agents that will reduce the levels of ulceration, diarrhoea, anorexia and ideally also fatalities caused by radiation exposure. Epistem currently provides the industry standard systems for measuring the levels of gastrointestinal damage and are enormously experienced in this area."

Dr Catherine Booth, head of Epistem's contract research division commented: "This project perfectly complements our work with MCART. The current contract with Humanetics will test agents that may be taken prior to radiation exposure, in situations of high risk, whereas MCART are evaluating agents that mitigate damage following exposure. Both types of drugs also have therapeutic applications in oncology supportive care, the area for which we first developed and validated these assays, and possibly in other related intestinal wound healing situations, such as inflammatory bowel disease."

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/85171/epistem-announce-collaboration-with-humanetics-corporation.html