The Pentagon wants ketamine wafers. And it seems to want them now. <\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the Defense Department awarded a nearly $41 million development contract to Singapore-based iX Biopharma to develop Wafermine, a small, ketamine-packed wafer that dissolves under the tongue.<\/p>\n
Recently, the drug\u2019s manufacturer announced that it is pursuing an emergency authorization<\/a> that could make the medication available to troops before it receives full Food and Drug Administration approval, citing a September U.S. declaration of a military emergency that justifies the emergency use of drugs deemed necessary by the Pentagon. <\/p>\n A federal emergency use approval declaration by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Sept. 3 opened the possibility of early official authorization<\/a>, giving the FDA a route to use unapproved medications to treat war wounds. <\/p>\n According to the notice, on July 15, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth determined \u201ca military emergency, or significant potential for a military emergency, involving a heightened risk to U.S. military forces of an attack with a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear agent or agents,\u201d or an attack with agents that would cause life-threatening injuries. <\/p>\n The declaration continues: \u201cInjuries arising from these attacks may cause those forces to experience moderate to severe acute pain and place them at risk of developing life-threatening hemodynamic instability, including shock or respiratory distress.\u201d<\/p>\n Because of Hegseth\u2019s determination, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr. declared that \u201ccircumstances exist justifying the authorization of emergency use of drugs\u201d identified by the Pentagon. <\/p>\n The notice did not elaborate on the emergency circumstances or state which drugs would be identified for emergency authorization. <\/p>\n A Politico investigation<\/a> published Tuesday found that iX Biofarma\u2019s domestic manufacturing partner lacks the Nevada license required to operate. <\/p>\n