Novel Polymeric Formulations for Skin Protection and Decontamination

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. In response the solicitation CBD05-118 Decontaminating Protective Skin Cream Effective Against Chemical Warfare Agents, a new approach based on a series of proprietary polymers is proposed. The range of possible chemical structures (hydrophilic, amphiphilic, lipophilic or cationic) enables formulations of the polymers to contain a wide variety of actives. In Phase I, we will examine the feasibility of incorporating active moieties into these polymers that neutralize CWAs. The eventual formulation will allow solubilization of both the active moiety and the CWA, enabling a neutralization reaction to occur. The polymers are chemically stable and can be synthesized from available starting materials for a reasonable cost.