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Humanetics Corporation Receives $1.25 Million in Funding Under Department of Defense 2006 Appropriations Budget

Posted on: Thursday, 12 January 2006, 09:00 CST

Humanetics Corporation today announced that Congress has provided $1.25 million in the FY 2006 Department of Defense (DoD) Appropriations bill to Humanetics for the development of oral countermeasures to ionizing radiation resulting from a nuclear event or terrorist attack involving radioactive materials. The FY 2006 DoD spending measure was approved by Congress in late December and signed by President Bush on December 30, 2005. Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman provided critical support for this project and helped secure the Congressional funding, which will be used to accelerate the development of safe and effective oral countermeasures to improve the nation's ability to respond to a nuclear crisis.

The federal grant is intended to support development of oral countermeasures to prevent harm caused by exposure to ionizing radiation from a nuclear accident, device or dirty bomb by strengthening the immune system or otherwise decreasing the risk of opportunistic infection. It is estimated that a nuclear blast of a 12.5 kiloton bomb in a densely populated urban setting such as New York or Washington DC may kill as many as 50,000 people instantly, with the radiation fallout killing up to 200,000 more.

Exposure to high levels of ionizing radiation may cause deficits in the immune system, along with other syndromes known collectively as acute radiation sickness (ARS). High mortality rates can occur in as little as two to four weeks after exposure to radiation if the immune system is negatively affected. However, damage to the immune system is one of the major symptoms of ARS that can be defended against.

Development of countermeasures against radiation exposure from a terrorist attack is a top priority of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security. There are no approved drugs available for the prevention or treatment of ARS, and leading compounds under development appear to require medical personnel for administration.

As demonstrated by the chaos surrounding hurricanes Katrina and Rita, reliance on existing medical infrastructure to administer drugs to mass numbers of civilians in a short period of time may not be a viable option. Humanetics is working to develop safe and effective oral countermeasures that can be stockpiled and more easily disbursed to at-risk populations. Based on their safety profile, these compounds could be distributed to civilians in advance and stored in households or work facilities. This approach represents a new paradigm for both national and worldwide biodefense by providing a cost effective and responsible defensive option for large civilian populations.

Humanetics is committed to delivering safe and effective products backed by rigorous clinical testing. The Company has been working with researchers at the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI), a research institute within the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), to develop compounds to strengthen the immune system against the sudden and catastrophic cascade of events that leads to ARS. Humanetics, USU and the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. (HJF) have entered into three cooperative research and development agreements (CRADA's) for this purpose, one of which is a unique blanket contract for ongoing development of a pipeline of candidate compounds. USU is a fully accredited Federal school of medicine administered by the U.S. Department of Defense and is located in Bethesda, Maryland. HJF, located in Rockville, Maryland, is a private, not-for-profit organization chartered by Congress to support medical education and research at USU and throughout the military medical community.

Said Humanetics President and CEO Ronald J. Zenk, "We are extremely grateful to Senator Norm Coleman and the other members of the Minnesota Congressional delegation who supported this initiative. We are delighted that Congress recognizes the importance of our collaborative effort with AFRRI to develop oral countermeasures for biodefense. This fresh new approach holds the promise of providing a safe and cost effective option not only for the military and first responders, but for the vast number of civilians at risk as well."

About Humanetics Corporation

Humanetics Corporation is a privately-held specialty pharmaceutical company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Company is focused on the rapid discovery, development and commercialization of orally-administered bioactive compounds for the prevention and treatment of diseases in categories with urgent and unmet needs. The Company has several proprietary compounds in preclinical and/or clinical stages of development in the areas of bioterrorism, Alzheimer's disease and obesity. For more information, visit: http://www.humaneticscorp.com.

This Press Release contains discussion of certain expectations regarding Humanetics Corporation's future performance. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current views and assumptions. Actual results could differ materially from these current expectations and projections, and from historical performance.

Source: Business Wire

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