The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has launched a new initiative aimed at developing preventive treatments to prevent bloodstream infections in warfighters who suffer trauma from burns, gunshot or blast wounds.
DARPA said Thursday the Synthetic Hemo-technologIEs that Locate & Disinfect program aims to develop novel therapies that can be administered as combat casualty care post-trauma to protect soldiers from infections caused by fungal and bacterial pathogens.
Therapies developed under SHIELD are expected to “bind, clear, and defeat any fungi and bacteria in a pathogen-agnostic, or broad-spectrum manner before they can become a health risk.”
The countermeasures must also be non-toxic, durable, broadly deployable and effective against existing and emerging bacterial and fungal threats.
SHIELD is divided into three phases, with the first focusing on proof-of-concept studies for safety and efficacy in in vitro studies.
The second phase will validate findings with either bacterial or fungal infections in animal models, while the final phase will aim to increase survival in models exposed to both bacterial and fungal pathogens simultaneously.
