The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the drug Neupogen, the first ever for the treatment of acute radiation injury. This drug will help to reduce the deleterious effects of radiation exposure following a nuclear incident. The research was done by Professor Thomas J MacVittie and Assistant Professor Ann M Farese of University of Maryland School of Medicine. The research was held in a non-human clinical model of high-dose radiation.

Thomas MacVittie said Neupogen helps to increase survival by protecting blood cells. He also added that the drug can now be used as a safe and effective treatment for the blood cell effects of severe radiation poisoning.

Neupogen was approved by FDA based on studies in animals, as studies in humans could not be ethically conducted. Radiation damages the bone marrow, and as a result decreases production of infection-fighting white blood cells. Exposure to radiation can cause life-long injuries and in some cases, prove fatal too. This is why it is so important for companies that make people work in such highly toxic environments to consider buying a hazmat suit and other personal protective equipment to protect the workers from said radiation. In spite of all protective measures, sometimes radiation exposure may still happen, causing unwanted consequences in the body. Neupogen counteracts these effects. The drug, which is made by Amgen, Inc, was first approved in 1991 to treat cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Neupogen is one of several “dual-use” drugs that are being examined for their potential use as countermeasures in nuclear incidents.

Tidbits

• The University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807.
• It is the first public medical school in the United States and continues today as an innovative leader in accelerating innovation and discovery in medicine.

GK Questions

• The Chernobyl disaster, a catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986, in which country? Ukraine
• The Three Mile Island accident is associated with which state of US? Pennsylvania