This test pill could eliminate radioactive contaminants from the body

For the first time, a clinical trial is evaluating on humans an oral drug aimed at eliminating radioactive contaminants that may be found inside the human body. The ongoing trial is taking place in the United States (Michigan) and is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (which is part of National Institutes of Health). It tests the safety, tolerability and effect in the body of increasing doses of the experimental drug “HOPO 14-1” in healthy adults. The results will be published in 2024.

Forty-two people between the ages of 18 and 65 are taking part in the study and will form seven groups of six participants. The first group will receive a 100mg dose of the drug, while subsequent groups will receive increasing doses of HOPO 14-1 (up to 7,500mg in the last group if previous doses are deemed safe by the research team ). Increased monitoring of the drug’s safety will be carried out, and participants will be followed for two weeks to measure its absorptionabsorptionits distribution and disposal.

More effective oral administration

The goal of treatment is to remove radioactive elements from the body as quickly as possible after internal radioactive contamination. This can happen as a result of an accident in a nuclear plantnuclear plant, or the explosion of a bomb or nuclear weapon. THE atomsatoms radioactive elements that decay emit ionizing radiation that can damage DNA, tissues and organs.

Other drugs are already approved by the Food and Drug Administration but they are administered intravenously, which is less convenient to deliver in an emergency than orally. Preclinical studies have shown that HOPO 14-1 can effectively remove many radioactive contaminants and is up to 100 times more effective at doing so than intravenously administered treatments.