Regulators in the United States have approved an experimental drug for treating patients suffering from the Ebola virus one week after health officials in Dallas, Texas diagnosed a Liberian national with the deadly disease.
On Monday this week, drug makers Chimerix announced that the US Federal Drug Administration has approved the use of its brincidofovir to treat Ebola symptoms during emergency situations. The FDA extended Chimerix an Emergency Investigational New Drug Application, or EINDA, meaning the drug can be used in the event of an emergency without waiting for the results of more stringent agency testing.
“Chimerix is committed to working with global health organizations and government agencies in the fight against the Ebola virus outbreak,” Dr. M. Michelle Berrey, M.D., the company’s president, said in astatement. “Based on in vitrodata from work conducted by the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and the National Institutes of Health suggesting brincidofovir’s activity against Ebola, we are hopeful that brincidofovir may offer a potential treatment for Ebola Virus Disease during this outbreak.”
The latest news concerning efforts to control the disease from spreading in the US comes one week and a day after health officials in Dallas diagnosed the first ever case of Ebola in the country. Late last month, Thomas Eric Duncan of Liberia was diagnosed by authorities in Texas with Ebola after coming to the US from West Africa; on Monday this week, officials said his condition was critical. Meanwhile, the fifth American to contract the disease while abroad arrived in the US early Monday where he is expected to be treated in a secure environment at a Nebraska hospital.
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