Cenomed Coawarded Chemical Defense Grant

Cenomed BioSciences along with coinvestigators at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and Wright State University received a three-year grant to evaluate certain molecules as drug combinations following nerve agent exposure. The other recipients are Major David Watson of the Air Force Research Laboratory and James Lucot, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology.

The funding from the Defense Joint Science and Technology Office for Chemical and Biological Defense/Threat Reduction Agency will go toward preclinical studies of selected defense compounds from Cenomed’s library. The collaborators say that they will emphasize combinations that enhance currently approved treatments.

Cenomed plans to synthesize compounds and conduct preclinical safety studies. The Air Force Research Laboratory and Wright State University will further evaluate the effectiveness of these candidates following chemical warfare agent exposure.

Cenomed reports that its compounds are being developed as a pre- and postexposure therapy for military and civilian victims of a chemical nerve agent attack.