NASA Developing Nasal Spray for Motion Sickness Treatment and Prevention

According to a recently signed agreement, NASA will be working in cooperation with Epiomed Therapeutics to develop a fast-acting nasal spray to help counter the effects of motion sickness. Once complete, the motion sickness treatment will become available commercially.

The agreement calls for Epiomed to formulate a drug called intranasal scopolamine (INSCOP) into a nasal spray. The drug has been tested by NASA, along with other motion sickness treatments for their Astronauts, and has shown promising results. From their research, NASA has determined that, with a precise dosage, the spray formulation has been shown to work faster and more reliably than taking scopolamine orally.

“NASA and Epiomed will work closely together on further development of INSCOP to optimize therapeutic efficiency for both acute and chronic treatment of motion sickness which can be used by NASA, the Department of Defense and world travelers on land, in the air and on the seas,” said Lakshmi Putcha, developer of the innovative treatment strategy at Johnson.

NASA has indicated that the agency will work together with Epiomed through clinical trials related to the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) requirements. Eventually, the agency will transfer sponsorship of future clinical trials and FDA approvals to Epiomed, enabling the company to then supply the product to NASA, and also offer the motion sickness spray to the public.