WASHINGTON (AP) — A North Carolina drug maker is providing an experimental antiviral drug to a patient being treated for Ebola in Dallas.
That word comes from officials at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.
The drug company, Chimerix Inc., said earlier that doctors it did not identify had received permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to use the drug, brincidofovir.
The oral antiviral drug is currently in late-stage testing for use against several common viruses, including one that infects patients undergoing bone marrow transplants. Laboratory tests suggested it might also fight Ebola.
The FDA grants emergency access to unapproved drugs on a case-by-case basis, usually when a patient faces a life-threatening condition for which there are no alternatives. The agency has not approved any drugs or vaccines to safely and effectively treat Ebola.
Thomas Eric Duncan was diagnosed with Ebola in Dallas last Tuesday after recently arriving from Liberia. His condition was downgraded to critical over the weekend. The hospital described him today as stable.
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