Radiation risksU.S. testing radiation therapy developed in Israel

Published 23 February 2016

The United States will likely begin to stock anti-radiation therapy from Pluristem Therapeutics Inc., an Israeli biotech company. The company says that the therapy can also cure nearly all people exposed to the radiation effects of nuclear weapons, “dirty” bombs, or nuclear power plants.

The United States will likely begin to stock anti-radiation therapy from Pluristem Therapeutics Inc., an Israeli biotech company. The company says that the therapy can also cure nearly all people exposed to the radiation effects of nuclear weapons, “dirty” bombs, or nuclear power plants.

Haifa-based Pluristem Theraputecs has developed a placenta- based cell therapy, which involves injecting people who were exposed to radiation.

Yaky Yanay, president and chief operating officer of Pluristem, told theJerusalem Post that clinical trials have so far yielded a near 100 percent recovery rate for animals exposed to radiation.

The Post reports that last week, the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, initiated studies of large animals to evaluate dosing. The trials are part of the Department of Homeland Security program to protect people in cases of radiation exposure.

“The whole free world is dealing with unusual challenges,” Yanay said.

Yanay said that lethal radiation is defined as the amount of radiation which would kill at least 70 percent of the population exposed to it. Yanay said that within forty-eight hours of test animals receiving the company’s placenta cell injections, that anials’ bone marrow blood cell production levels returned to normal, and the animals fully recovered from the high radiation exposure.

“We saw that injecting the placenta cells enabled nearly 100 percent of the population to recover, compared to 30 percent of the [animal] group that did not receive the injections,” Yanay said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is now paying for, and carrying out, trials as the FDA seeks approval for the therapy. The approval is likely to be granted in 2017

“You don’t need DNA matches for patients. It can be injected into the muscle very easily, in all humans or animals,” Yanay said.
Ynay added: “As a proud Israeli citizen, I can say that Israel is at the top of our priorities, and we are talking to Israeli authorities. We very much want to provide the level of defense that our people deserve.”