U.S. launches first-in-human trial of oral drug to remove radioactive contamination

LOS ANGELES, May 15 (Xinhua) -- The United States has launched a first-in-human clinical trial of an experimental oral drug for removing radioactive contaminants from inside the body, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on Monday.

The trial is testing the safety, tolerability and processing in the body of escalating doses of the investigational drug product HOPO 14-1 in healthy adults.

The clinical trial is taking place at a site in Plymouth, Michigan. The study team will enroll 42 healthy participants ages 18 to 65 years in seven groups of six.

Each participant in the first group will receive a 100-milligram (mg) dose of HOPO 14-1. The subsequent groups will receive increasingly higher doses of the study drug up to 7,500 mg in the final group.

Participants will undergo intensive safety monitoring and will be followed for 14 days to measure the absorption, distribution and elimination of the study drug.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved two products for removing internal radioactive contamination. These drugs are administered intravenously by a healthcare provider and can remove three radioactive elements: plutonium, americium, and curium, according to the NIH.

In contrast, HOPO 14-1 has been formulated as an oral capsule, which would be easier than an intravenous drug to stockpile and to deploy and administer during an emergency, said the NIH.

Preclinical research has shown that HOPO 14-1 can effectively remove many radioactive contaminants, including uranium and neptunium in addition to plutonium, americium and curium, said the NIH.