Formulation of a Neutralizing Skin Protectant (NSP)

Currently there is a need for a pre-exposure decontaminating skin cream that will neutralize chemical warfare agents (CWA) on contact. Current approaches to this problem cannot both dissolve a CWA challenge and neutralize the agent into less toxic products before it reaches the skin surface. Our Phase II Technical Approach will result in the development of an innovative Neutralizing Skin Protectant (NSP). The NSP will employ physiochemical means to protect exposed skin from chemical agents while solubilizing both an active moiety and the CWA, enabling a neutralization reaction to occur within the matrix. In Phase II we will create topical formulation prototypes which have been optimized based on the results of skin permeation studies. The Phase II work will build on Phase I results demonstrating the efficacy of our approach against surrogates.