Medical countermeasures (MCMs) known as “resurrectors” may one day be incorporated into the combination antidote for nerve agents and organophosphate (OP) pesticides and could increase the currently small window of time to treat organophosphate nerve agent (OPNA) poisoning. In its role as the Joint Science and Technology Office (JSTO) for Chemical and Biological Defense, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s (DTRA) Chemical and Biological Technologies Department is currently investing in work at MRIGlobal and Ohio State University (OSU) to develop candidate MCMs with innovative mechanisms of action. These resurrectors could represent a significant breakthrough in the toolkit to fight against nerve agent and OP pesticide poisoning.
If successful, this innovative approach will mean more kinds of nerve agent and OP pesticide poisonings are treatable,and there would be more time to rescue casualties after poisoning—a critical factor for the Warfighter in austere conditions.