Israeli placenta-based cell therapy developer Pluristem Therapeutics announced this week that is has developed a highly effective vaccine against acute radiation poisoning.
Founded in 2011 in Haifa, Pluristem is a clinical-stage biotherapy company that uses placental cells and a unique, proprietary, three-dimensional technology platform to develop cell therapies for conditions such as inflammation, ischemia, muscle injuries, hematological disorders and exposure to radiation.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
The company, together with the US Department of Defense's Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, conducted a successful series of studies with a PLX-R18 cell therapy product as a prophylactic treatment against Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS) managed prior to radiation exposure.
ARS results from exposure to high levels of radiation, as in the case of a nuclear accident or attack, and it may cause severe or fatal systemic effects such as injuries that hinder the bone marrow's ability to produce blood cells and platelets, as well as other organs and systems within the body, increasing patients' susceptibility to life-threatening hemorrhage, infection, and anemia, the company explained in a press release.
Pluristem said that the vaccine showed a significant increase in survival rates among animals exposed to high levels of radiation, from a 4% survival rate in the placebo group to 74% in the treated group.
The vaccine was given 24 hours before radiation exposure and again 72 hours afterward.
The survival group showed an increase in the recovery of blood cells such as platelets, neutrophils, and lymphocytes, all of which are damaged by exposure to radiation. Furthermore, tissues collected show a significant increase in bone marrow cell numbers and improved regenerative capability into all blood lineages.
In 2015, the vaccine was granted an FDA orphan drug designation. Now it has to receive full marketing approval, Pluristem said, adding that PLX-R18 is also currently being evaluated by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases as a treatment following radiation exposure.
"We are very pleased with the positive results from the studies showing that PLX-R18 can potentially be used prophylactically, before exposure to radiation," President and CEO of Pluristem Yaky Yanay said.
"We believe that this outcome is an important contribution to protect the armed and medical forces which may need to enter contaminated areas. It is Pluristem's goal to provide the different federal agencies access to PLX-R18 so that it may be used as a countermeasure both before and after radiation exposure in order to minimize
hematological and other organ damage. We look forward to the continued development of this unique agent as an off the shelf product."
