RxBio Inc., an early-stage biopharmaceutical company formed around technology developed at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, has been awarded a $15 million federal contract to further develop Rx100, a potent drug that may protect against the lethal effects of radiation exposure.

To date, no such drug has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“As part of a national preparedness effort, we are pleased to work locally to develop a radiation countermeasure that could save the lives of countless Americans, as well as citizens around the world who are exposed to lethal levels of radiation,” said Dr. W. Shannon McCool, RxBio chairman and CEO in a statement.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority contract is valued at up to $24 million – including a base contract of $15 million plus $9 million in options – over the next two years.

BARDA provides an integrated, systematic approach to the development and purchase of vaccines, drugs, therapies and diagnostic tools for public health emergencies.

Development of Rx100 has been funded by a combination of private equity and federal funding. The drug has been a sponsored project of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the division of the National Institutes of Health that is charged with the identification and early development of radiation countermeasures. The entity has provided nearly $5 million in early stage funding.

Rx100 resulted from collaboration among three UTHSC scientists: Dr. Gabor Tigyi, chairman and professor in the Department of Physiology; Dr. Duane Miller, chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences; and Dr. Leonard R. Johnson, professor in the Department of Physiology.

After the initial discovery, the trio contacted McCool, a UT College of Pharmacy alumnus with a track record in developing and commercializing pharmaceuticals, to form RxBio. Rx100 was licensed from UT Research Foundation and the company commenced development of the drug – a small molecule that has shown a survival benefit whether administered 24 hours before or up to 72 hours after exposure to radiation levels several times higher than lethal. Rx100 is effective against higher levels of radiation that affect the gastrointestinal tract.

The drug’s development has taken place within the nonprofit Memphis Bioworks Foundation incubator. Further development will rely on facilities within UTHSC, including its Regional Biocontainment Laboratory, a specially constructed facility dedicated to biomedical and biodefense research.