TEHRAN — Doctor Hossein Niknahad, a professor at the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, has succeeded in producing a drug for aluminum phosphide poisoning, IRNA reported on Monday.

“I conducted the research to find a cure for aluminum phosphide poisoning in 2009 at the Shiraz School of Pharmacy,” Niknahad explained.

Aluminum phosphide is a deadly poison which releases phosphine when it reacts with water in the body and kills many every year, he added.

“At first we tested the drug on lab animals and after getting positive result we adopted the formula for human use by employing Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA),” he noted.

DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid found in cold-water, fatty fish, such as salmon.

“In the recent weeks we have succeeded in saving lives of seven patients, five in Tehran and two in Shiraz, poisoned by aluminum phosphide by giving them regular shots of the drug,” Niknahad highlighted.

Both students of pharmacology and toxicology collaborated actively on the research program, he said.

Niknahad who is also a board member at the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences expressed hope that the drug will soon enter mass production phase.

“So far, no effective cure existed for the aluminum phosphide poisoning and it claims more than 700 lives every year in Iran,” he said, adding that “next to India, Iran has the highest death toll caused by aluminum phosphide poisoning.”

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