Brincidofovir: a drug approved by the FDA for clinical trial in patients with Ebola

Oct 20, 2014 Ruchira Dhoke News 0

With Ebola virus epidemic creating a ruckus left right and center, a new hope can be seen in the form of an approval for a drug to go for a clinical trial for patients suffering from the virus

Chimerix Inc., a pharmaceutical company based at the Durham, North Carolina has received a confirmation by the FDA to test its broad-spectrum antiviral drug Brincidofovir, against the Ebola virus under its emergency investigational new drug application.

The Chimerix can now begin the trial to examine the safety and effectiveness of its Brincidofovir tablets in patients who have the Ebola virus. The company said in a statement that the drug is available for immediate use in testing.

Brincidofovir, an antiviral drug is being developed to treat several types of viruses, including one that infects patients undergoing bone marrow transplants. Chimerix is also working in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense on developing the drug as a treatment against smallpox. Laboratory tests seem to suggest that the drug might also work against Ebola, creating a new hope for a potential treatment for Ebola virus during this epidemic. It already has provided the drug to Thomas Eric Duncan, the patient who died last Tuesday in Dallas and to Ashoka Mukpo, an NBC cameraman who is being currently treated in Nebraska.

According to the sources the drug Brincidofovir also is now being tested in a Phase III trial for cytomegalovirus, which may support a regulatory filing for preventing CMV infection in adult hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients. Another Phase III trial for adenovirus is currently enrolling patients for the same drug

Among the three experimental medications known to have been used on Ebola patients during the current outbreak, Brincidofovir is one of them.

The other two medications include:

ZMapp developed by a San Diego based company called Mapp Pharmaceuticals, specifically as a treatment for Ebola virus. It is a combination drug composed of antibodies engineered to recognize the virus and then bind to the infected cells. The supplies for the drug are currently exhausted; though federal officials say work is on to produce more of them.
The TKM-EBOLA injection developed by a Canadian pharmaceutical company Tekmira, blocks the genes that help the Ebola virus multiply and spread further. It has been used in at least one patient and is said to be in limited supply.

Brincidofovir, clinical trial, Dallas patient, Ebola virus, epidemic, FDA, new drug

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Ruchira Dhoke

A qualified medical microbiologist with an avidity to read enchant a deep passion for creating a good impacting masterpiece with my words .I am very fond of good old English literature and like listening to music and paint in my free time.