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news.Hollis-Eden has halted development of radiation sickness drug Neumune after the US government decided not to make advance purchases of the treatment for stockpiling.
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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) told the drug developer that the amount of data available for Neumune was not sufficient to justify the advance purchase for Project Bioshield. The project aims to develop a stockpile of treatments to be used in case of nuclear or chemical attack.
Hollis-Eden said that, although it believes that the HHS could be satisfied with safety and efficacy trials, the company is not prepared to fund further studies without an advanced purchase order.
“We continue to find HHS’ actions quite confusing,” said Richard Hollis, chairman and CEO of Hollis-Eden. “We believe Neumune is clearly the compound farthest along in development for the acute effects of radiation injury, which the president has declared the gravest threat to our nation. By cancelling this solicitation HHS is potentially delaying the availability of an effective medical countermeasure for this critical indication by at least several years.”
The company said that it would also consider licensing or selling the compound to third parties for further development.