Stalking the silent killer
Pitt startup working to treat carbon monoxide poisoning raises $5 million
A year-old University of Pittsburgh startup company has raised $5 million in Series A funding as it develops an antidote for carbon monoxide poisoning.
Tus Science & Technology Service Group of China led the funding round for Globin Solutions Inc. with participation from UPMC Enterprises, the commercialization arm of the Downtown-based hospital and health insurance giant.
The technology that created the antidote administered intravenously was licensed from Pitt and the funding will support preclinical development of the new medicine, said Jason Rose, Globin CEO and assistant professor of medicine at Pitt’s School of Medicine.
“There’s clearly a need for something better for carbon monoxide poisoning,” Dr. Rose said.
The money will be used to continue safety testing of the compound, which will eventually be needed for clinical trials.
Carbon monoxide, a byproduct of combustion, is called the silent killer. It is an odorless, colorless gas that’s highly lethal. An estimated 50,000 emergency department visits annually are caused by carbon monoxide poisoning, according to Dr. Rose, and as many as 2,000 deaths are blamed on the problem annually.
Medical costs associated with carbon monoxide poisoning exceed $1.3 billion annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a government agency based in Atlanta.
Pressurized oxygen administered in a hyperbaric chamber, a full body-size capsule, is the standard care. Not all of the devices are available for emergency use, which can delay treatment.
Moreover, some researchers have questioned the efficacy of hyperbaric treatment for such poisonings.
Carbon monoxide owes its lethality to its strong chemical bond to hemoglobin, SEE GLOBIN, PAGE B-2