29 Mar 2024
Wednesday 6 August 2014 - 23:34
Story Code : 109924

Ebola drug panel set by WHO to weigh unproven drugs use

Ebola drug panel set by WHO to weigh unproven drugs use
TheWorld Health Organizationwill convene a panel of medical ethicists next week to explore the use of experimental treatments for Ebola amid the worst outbreak of the disease on record.
An experimental antibody cocktail developed by Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc. was used to treat two infected American health workers whose conditions have improved. The WHOs announcement came after Nigerias health ministry said it has written to the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to request access to the drug.

Use of the drug, called ZMapp, is raising questions about whether a medicine that hasnt been shown as safe in humans should be distributed more widely during the outbreak and, given the limited amount of medicine available, who should get it, the WHO said in a statement.

We have a disease with a high fatality rate without any proven treatment or vaccine, said Marie-Paule Kieny, assistant director-general at the World Health Organization, in thestatement. We need to ask the medical ethicists to give us guidance on what the responsible thing to do is.

WhileTekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp. (TKMR)was conducting early-stage tests of its Ebola therapy in humans, the FDA in July placed the trial on hold due to safety concerns. Other companies developing drugs for the deadly disease includeFujifilm Holdings Corp. (4901),BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. (BCRX)andSarepta Therapeutics Inc. (SRPT)

Separately, the U.S.Food and Drug Administrationsaid today it has authorized use of a real-time diagnostic test developed by the U.S. Department of Defense to help detect the Ebola virus inAfrica. A positive result from the test should be be considered presumptive rather than conclusive, according to a fact sheet provided by the defense department.
Continued Improvement
Nancy Writebol and Kent Brantly, American aid workers who contracted Ebola in Liberia, have been given doses of ZMapp. Writebol, 59, was showing continued improvement yesterday as she arrived in the U.S. for treatment, saidBruce Johnson, the president of SIM USA, the charity that sponsored her work in Liberia.

As of Aug. 4, theoutbreakof the Ebola virus had killed 932 people, the WHO said today. Most of the cases are in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in West Africa. Two deaths have been reported in Nigeria.

By Bloomberg

 

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