The collaboration outlines plans for multiple in vivo studies, designed to test opaganib as a potential medical countermeasure to treat phosgene inhalation injury. The collaboration aims to determine whether opaganib can advance into further definitive U.S. government-sponsored development under the FDA’s Animal Rule pathway to approval
Used as a chemical weapon during World War I, phosgene, a toxic, colorless chemical, is today widely used in industrial processes for the manufacture of plastics and pesticides. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identified 123 sites in the United States that could potentially expose millions of people to phosgene due to plant malfunction or bioterrorism[1]
Phosgene inhalation can be extremely dangerous, causing significant, even fatal, respiratory injury. No known approved antidote or reversal agent currently exists, and, if approved, opaganib may provide potential for stockpiling for emergency use in the event of a major public safety incident
With multiple U.S. government collaborations for chemical and medical countermeasures and pandemic preparedness, RedHill’s opaganib is a novel, host-directed, potentially broad acting, orally administered small molecule, clinical-stage drug with demonstrated safety & efficacy profiles, being developed for various oncology, viral infections, inflammatory diseases and chemical and nuclear/radioprotection indications.
