Acute radiation syndrome of the gastro-intestinal tract (“GI-ARS”) is a massive, currently untreatable, problem following high-dose, potentially lethal radiation exposure. Agents that mitigate these effects would reduce sickness and hopefully prevent fatalities. The intestinal epithelium, a single layer of cells lining the surface of the GI lumen, is responsible for vital functions of nutrient absorption, maintaining fluid and electrolyte balance and protection of the body from bacteria, bacterial toxins and non absorbed materials. The functional integrity of the GI system is maintained via incessant production of epithelial cells from specialized stem cells located in crypts at the base of the epithelium. High-dose, total-body irradiation can result in a lethal GI syndrome that results in significant morbidity and mortality within days consequent to killing of the crypt stem cells and loss of the protective and absorptive epithelial barrier. There are no FDA-approved drugs or biologics to treat the acute GI-ARS syndrome.
Aeolus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company. The Company focuses on developing a platform of compounds for use in biodefense, fibrosis, oncology, infectious disease and diseases of the central nervous system.
