Share of Cost, Drug may reduce harm of potentially lethal radiation
In the journal Laboratory Investigation, a team from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston describes how the experimental drug TP508 showed promising results in tests on mice.
Exposure to nuclear radiation in the event of an incident has the potential to injure and kill thousands of people. Emergency measures that can be given in the first 24 hours to limit the damage to the body until better medical care is available can save lives, say researchers who have found a drug that appears to fit this need.
They note how a single injection of TP508, a regenerative peptide, significantly increased survival in mice after exposure to nuclear radiation, even though it was given 24 hours after the exposure occurred.