SBIR-STTR Award

Chemical warfare agents (CWAs), such as nerve agents and mustard agents, pose serious threats to our warfighters and civilians. Current formulations of dermal medical countermeasures to CWAs can be absorbed through the skin causing systemic toxicities to the patients. These formulations are limited by the FDA for use only in small area of intact skin, which severely restricts the usefulness of these countermeasures since warfighters may be exposed over large regions of the body, including areas with wounds or skin abrasions. Nano Terra proposes to develop new formulations of dermal medical countermeasures that will effectively neutralize CWAs on the skin while not being absorbed through the skin and causing systemic toxicity. The new countermeasure formulations will treat injuries resulting from cutaneous exposure to CWAs up to 50% of the skin surface, including wounded regions and regions containing hair follicles. In addition, the new formulations will be more cost-effective than current formulations and have improved shelf stability under various environmental conditions.

Chemical warfare agents (CWAs), such as nerve agents and mustard agents, pose serious threats to our warfighters and civilians. Current formulations of dermal medical countermeasures to CWAs can be absorbed through the skin causing systemic toxicities to the patients. These formulations are limited by the FDA for use only in small area of intact skin. This severely restricts the usefulness of these counter measures since warfighters may be exposed over large regions of the body including areas with wounds or skin abrasions. We have developed new formulations of dermal medical countermeasures that effectively neutralize CWAs on the skin while not being absorbed through the skin and causing systemic toxicity. The new countermeasure formulations will treat injuries resulting from cutaneous exposure to CWAs up to 50% of the skin surface, including wounded regions and regions containing hair follicles. In addition, the new formulations will be more cost-effective than current formulations and have improved shelf stability under various environmental conditions. ---------- Wounds sustained in a chemically contaminated environment are uniquely challenging to treat. Current methods include irrigation with water or a lavage solution and packing with standard gauze. These methods fail to detoxify any chemical warfare agent (CWA) present on the wound and result in a contaminated “hot” gauze which complicates safety and environmental considerations for the patient and medical personnel. Our product rapidly absorbs and detoxifies CWA, addressing this unmet need. The ultimate goal of this effort is FDA clearance of our product as a medical device.