Polymer therapeutic protects gut from radiation damage, infectio...

(Kureczka/Martin Associates) A nonabsorbed, oral co-polymer therapy under development by Midway Pharmaceuticals demonstrated the ability to protect against damage to healthy gastrointestinal tissues and to prevent lethal bacterial infections in animal models of radiation damage.

The results suggest the compound, a high molecular weight co-polymer of polyethylene glycol (PEG), may provide a new way to prevent serious GI side effects of radiation in patients receiving fractionated radiotherapy for abdominal cancers or in accidental exposures to harmful radiation.