Astronaut Meds Go Commercial
NASA Signs Agreement to Develop Nasal Spray for Motion Sickness, NASA (with full text of Space Act Agreement)
“Under the Space Act Agreement, Epiomed will formulate the drug, called intranasal scopolamine, or INSCOP. Astronauts often experience motion sickness in space. As a result, NASA has conducted extensive research into the causes and treatments for the condition. Scopolamine is effective and can be administered as a tablet or injected. With a precise dosage, the NASA spray formulation has been shown to work faster and more reliably than the oral form.”
Epiomed and NASA Sign Space Act Agreement for INSCOP, an Intra-nasal Scopolamine Product
“Epiomed will take responsibility for further development and commercialization of INSCOP, assisted by NASA-HH&P (Human Health & Performance Directorate) technology, and assume sponsorship of the IND (Investigational New Drug) from NASA under the SAA.”
A commendable feat, but not something that will pay for human spaceflight. The main reason most drug companies do not get involved is that the market is not large. Intranasal scopolamine works well for the astronauts, who do not like to take drugs until they really have to, because it gets into the system quickly. But for many people sailing, who need something that provides a constant blood level, the scopolamine patch may be more appropriate. Yet Novartis has not done all that well with transdermal scopolamine and ondansetron is probably significantly better for chemo induced nausea. So it appears to be a useful drug but with essentially a niche market.
“But for many people sailing, who need something that provides a constant blood level, the scopolamine patch may be more appropriate.”
Really? If I was sea-sick, I’d want something now. Have a look at marketing for most medication, “fast acting”, “instant relief”, etc, are huge selling points.
Patches take up to 8 hours to fully kick in, oral tablets take up to an hour. And both require a higher dose, which causes it’s own problems. The nasal spray uses a much lower dose, and relief is almost immediate. And from what I’ve been reading, the nasal spray produces a more consistent therapeutic response.
Depending on the shelf-life, I’d see something like that in every boat’s first-aid kit. And on every airliner. And, if the low dose is safe for kids, in every mother’s bag on every long road trip.
And from what I understand, the US military are paying for much of the development, so that gives the manufacturers a pretty big anchor customer (…pun intended).
Agreed. Once again, we have people commenting here without any expertise in pharmacology or operational medicine.
Scopolamine has been around a while and is already available as a transdermal patch, which one would hope is a more precise administration method than a nasal spray. Also, it’s also a hallucinogen if abused – accounting for ~20% of poisoning admissions in parts of S. America..
How is a nasal dispenser any more/less precise than a patch? Your background in pharmacology is …. ?
Scopolamine can cause seizures and even hallucinations in some.
It caused me to have seizures. (I have Meniere’s Disease, an inner ear disorder that causes vertigo among other things. Alan Shepard had it also and was grounded for years.)
The nasal spray lowers the required dose, compared to patches and pills, reducing the potential side-effects. That’s partly why it’s being developed.
Its also faster acting – thus lowering the dose required for the desired effect.
I see that is more positive than the other commenters seem to. Any drug can give “problems” if not used as directed or if the prescribing doctor doesn’t consider the other medications that the patient may also be on. And, of course, there’s always the possibility of allergies. But this product is self-administered, used as needed, and convenient, so it is more likely to be used, and used in a more timely manner, than if someone in space had to have it approved and possibly administered by another person each time it was needed. Personally, I will assume that anyone who is smart enough to have made their way into space (Bill Nelson perhaps excluded) is going to be smart enough not to misuse or abuse something like this. Granted, it’s a small market so far, but it is one of those very many things that will be needed to make living in space a more “normal” and less dangerous experience. I see it as sort of equivalent to aspirin for a headache for people living on Earth. I see both its development and the hand-off/interaction to a commercial firm as progress.
Steve
Wow, it’s been this long? I was a volunteer test subject on a study on this at JSC back in the 90’s.
Abuse? It doesn’t need to be abused to cause seizures. The patch caused mine.
I’d think it would be of some concern that a drug that is known to cause seizures in some in the prescribed dose might be used by someone who is controlling a spacecraft.
Not saying it rules it out, just saying it has to be a concern.
That’s why NASA has lots of medical doctors on call.