The US FDA recently announced that the experimental drug being developed by Aeolus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. AEOL 10150 has been granted the Orphan Drug status. This status is being given to medicines that are dedicated to treating rare medical conditions that affects a very small percentage of the US population.
AEOL 10150 is a drug used for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. It comes in the form of a universal catalytic antioxidant used for the treatment of patients with the rare IPF condition. This dreadful disease affects only a few people in the country, which gives the patients very few treatment options since drugs for this disease have not been mass produced.
Aside from treatment of IPF, the drug has been observed to show beneficial effects for people who are involved with high doses of radiation, as with those being used in cancer treatment. To date, there have already been two human clinical studies to support this positive claim by Aeolus Pharma.
The research being conducted by Aeolus is under the supervision of the US Department of Health and Human Services, funded through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). The drug is seen to be a very potent cure for cancer patients that have been receiving radiation therapy and those who have delayed effects and pulmonary manifestations of acute radiation exposure or Lung-ARS (acute radiation syndrome).
In line with the orphan drug designation from FDA, the sponsor of the drug’s research program is granted an exclusive seven-year marketing privilege, federal grants, tax credits and clinical protocol aid from the FDA.