Stem cells have yet to make it into mainstream civilian medicine, but that hasn’t stopped the US military betting on them to save its personnel if there’s a nuclear explosion or radiological attack.
On 3 January, the Department of Defense awarded a contract to two biotech firms to develop a treatment for radiation sickness based on stem cells extracted from the bone marrow of healthy adult donors. If the treatment, known as Prochymal, wins approval from the Food and Drug Administration, the Pentagon will purchase up to 20,000 doses at a total cost – including funding for development –…
