A nearly $41 million Defense Department development contract could expand options for treating wounded U.S. troops, as the manufacturer explores emergency authorization before full FDA approval.
WASHINGTON | The Pentagon is pursuing a dissolvable ketamine wafer designed to treat moderate to severe pain in wounded service members, backing the technology with a development contract worth nearly $41 million as its manufacturer seeks a potential pathway to emergency use before full federal approval.
Singapore-based pharmaceutical company iX Biopharma is developing Wafermine, a ketamine-based medication administered beneath the tongue rather than through an injection. The proposed treatment could provide military medical personnel with another option for managing acute pain in battlefield casualties.
The declaration does not constitute FDA approval of Wafermine or establish that the medication has been authorized for battlefield deployment.
The regulatory effort follows a Sept. 3 declaration by the Department of Health and Human Services, which determined that circumstances exist to justify potential emergency authorization of drugs identified by the Defense Department.
According to the federal notice, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth determined July 15 that a military emergency, or significant potential for one, involved heightened risks to U.S. forces from chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear agents, or other attacks capable of causing life-threatening injuries.
