Development of a novel product for skin decontamination after exposure to chemical warfare agents

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ABSTRACT With the increasing threat of terrorism, the development of countermeasures for the event of a chemical attack on civilians has become a high priority. Mass casualty events in which chemical warfare agents (CWA) would be employed in an attack on a civilian population, are a concrete risk. Because of significant differences between members of the military and civilians, existing countermeasures may need to be adapted or expanded for use in a civilian population. This project proposes the development of Veriox®, a proprietary formulation, to provide first responders working on mass-casualty decontamination (DC) an inexpensive, FDA approved, fast-acting, field- deployable skin decontamination kit that would provide superior levels of protection when compared to the current field-deployed products. Veriox® offers several advantages over existing DC products for mass casualty settings, because it can be rapidly dispensed with standard liquid dispensing systems (hand operated sprayers and mass casualty shower systems) that will allow first responders to quickly decontaminate multiple individuals. Last but not least, since Veriox® breaks down rapidly into harmless products, it demonstrates a better safety and toxicity profile, and is also environmentally safe. While Veriox® is a potentially broad-spectrum decontaminant, with efficacy shown already against Generating Antibiotic Incentives Now (GAIN) Act pathogens, this project focuses on its development in the context of nerve agent decontamination. We present a strong background of preliminary studies demonstrating efficacy in vivo. The next step of the development program is to demonstrate safety of the product in animals which will then enable advancement of the product into human testing. This is the focus of the present grant.