DTRA awarded the company $117,000 to study cyclosporin.
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) awarded $117,000 to Maas Biolab for the continued investigation of the neuroprotective properties of cyclosporin in models of chemical warfare agent exposure. The funding will aid the study of the brain penetration of cyclosporin and its effectiveness in protecting and prolonging the survival of mitochondria within brain tissue that has been exposed to nerve agents.
The DTRA Extramural Program funding will complement an ongoing intramural cyclosporin neuroprotection research effort at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR). The WRAIR research demonstrated improved neurological outcomes in animals treated with cyclosporin following traumatic brain injury or exposure to organophosphate nerve agents.
“The DTRA award will be instrumental to our research effort with WRAIR and will augment the development of the first brain-protecting treatment for soldiers and civilians exposed to nerve agents,” says Eskil Elmer, M.D., Ph.D., principal investigator and CSO at Maas Biolab.
