Report: Pentagon Asks for Anti-Radiation Drug

["Bjorn Cedervall" <bcradsafers@HOTMAIL.COM>]

FYI.



Bjorn Cedervall    bcradsafers@hotmail.com



NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Defense Department is pressing for the approval of 

a new drug that could help against radiation amid worries that Osama bin 

Laden (news - web sites) and his al Qaeda network may have radioactive 

weapons in their possession, The New York Times reported on Friday.



So far the drug, a steroid hormone known as 5-androstenediol that appears to 

strengthen the immune system, has been tested as a radiation protectant only 

in mice, the newspaper said in its online edition.



In one test, an injection protected 70 percent of mice from a level of 

radiation that killed all the mice in the control group, it said.



The drug is receiving increased scrutiny along with other experimental 

treatments and drugs already on the market as fears of terror attacks grow, 

the newspaper said. The National Cancer Institute (news - web sites), the 

Department of Defense (news - web sites) and the Department of Energy (news 

- web sites) have invited radiation experts to a two-day workshop starting 

Dec. 17 in Bethesda, Maryland to review approaches for protecting people 

from radiation, The New York Times said.



Rights to 5-androstenediol are held by San Diego-based Hollis-Eden 

Pharmaceuticals Inc., the newspaper added.





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