Grifols (BME: GRF; NASDAQ: GRFS), a Spanish biopharmaceutical company, has announced a partnership with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to test investigational ocular surface immunoglobulin (OSIG) eye drops for their potential to treat ocular damage resulting from sulfur mustard exposure. BARDA, which is part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), will collaborate with Grifols on this initiative.
If successful in preclinical evaluation, this approach could gain approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and become one of the first medical treatments designed to counteract the long-term effects of sulfur mustard ocular injury. Sulfur mustard, a chemical warfare agent known for its rapid reaction with ocular tissue, can lead to severe pain, photophobia, and mustard gas keratopathy, a corneal injury that may result in blindness.
Grifols will leverage its investigational OSIG therapeutic, currently in development for dry eye disease (DED), to develop a treatment for sulfur mustard ocular exposure. The nonclinical studies conducted in partnership with BARDA aim to provide evidence of OSIG’s anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties and its potential to alleviate the long-term effects of sulfur mustard exposure.
This new deal follows a recent USD 135 million agreement between Grifols’ subsidiary GigaGen and BARDA to develop recombinant polyclonal antibody therapies for biothreats, including botulinum neurotoxins, highlighting Grifols’ commitment to addressing critical unmet medical needs in the area of biodefense.- Flcube.com
