Soligenix, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing products to treat inflammatory diseases and biodefense medical countermeasures (MCMs) for which there remains an unmet medical need, has been awarded a contract valued at up to $6.4 million by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's NIH (specifically funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases or NIAID).

The contract is for the advanced preclinical development of OrbeShield (oral beclomethasone 17,21-dipropionate or oral BDP) as an MCM for the treatment of gastrointestinal acute radiation syndrome (GI ARS). ARS occurs after toxic radiation exposure and involves several organ systems, notably the bone marrow the GI tract and, later, the lungs.   In the event of a nuclear disaster or terrorist detonation of a nuclear bomb, casualties exposed to >2 Gy are at high risk for development of clinically significant ARS. The potential three-year contract contains a one-year base period, with two one-year contract extension options.