Active agent DDW

Deuterium-depleted water

Water of decreased deuterium content (deuterium-depleted water, DDW) contains by far less heavy hydrogen (deuterium) than natural water, and the decrease is severalfold higher than the natural variability of deuterium concentration. Deuterium content of water is expressed in “ppm” (parts per million) units which shows how many of one million hydrogen atoms (H) are deuterium (D), or how many of one million water molecules (H2O) are heavy water (D2O). Natural waters in our geographical zone contain 145 to 150 heavy or half-heavy water (D2O or DHO) molecules in 1 million water (H2O) molecules, but in the DDW used in research and in clinical tests there are 25 to 130 heavy water molecules.

The production of deuterium depleted water is based on the differences in the physical and chemical properties of normal (H2O) and heavy water (D2O), that is, on the boiling point difference of 1.5°C. During manufacturing, at 100°C (boiling point of normal water), water vapour over the boiling fluid contains at equilibrium ca. 2.5% less D than the liquid phase. By repeating evaporation several times, deuterium content of water can be reduced to any level. The process is performed in distillation columns of industrial size, and yields DDW of 25 to 110 ppm deuterium content.

HYD Pharma, mother company of HYD LLC for Cancer Research and Drug Development, realized a worldwide unique pharma industrial investment for manufacturing of DDW. The production site was licensed by the Hungarian National Institute for Pharmacy and Nutrition in 1995, so DDW as active agent could be produced according to GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) conditions. The license allowed manufacturing of test preparations used in research activity of HYD Group, and in the planned human clinical trials, in conformity with international regulations of medicine manufacturing. DDW as active agent was also registered in the system of European Medicines Agency (EMA), which meant for HYD group a major step towards registration of a novel, highly efficient, and side effects free human antitumor medicine.

The veterinary antitumor preparation Vetera-DDW-25, used for adjuvant treatment of small animals with malignancies, contains DDW as active component. Vetera-DDW-25 was registered as a prescription antitumor medicine A.U.V. by the Department of Animal Health of the Ministry of Agriculture and Regional Development (Reg. No.: 13/99 FVM). Registration was renewed in 2010 by the Central Agricultural Office Directorate of Veterinary Medicinal Product (Reg. No. 084/1/2011 MgSzH ÁTI). This preparation with deuterium-depleted water as active component is a breakthrough in veterinary medicine because its efficiency equals with that of conventional therapies while its application is free of side effects.