Ebola: FG requests drug from Japan, others
The federal government has asked the Japanese government to provide them with the Ebola drug to aid the country contain the outbreak of Ebola in the country. Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu also revealed that apart from the Japanese drug, the country was also applying for the TKM-Ebola drug alongside two other vaccines which […]
The federal government has asked the Japanese government to provide them with the Ebola drug to aid the country contain the outbreak of Ebola in the country. Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu also revealed that apart from the Japanese drug, the country was also applying for the TKM-Ebola drug alongside two other vaccines which has been identified by the Treatment Research Group.
Chukwu who was speaking during the opening of the 2nd Emergency National Council on Health meeting on Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in Nigeria said, “the Treatment Research Group (TRG) has been working hard to identify experimental drugs like Zmapp, and also make recommendations to government on further research on these drugs as well as vaccines for EVD treatment and prevention.
“Following the TRG’s recommendation and in consultation with NAFDAC and NHREC, Nigeria has indicated interest to participate in the clinical trials for two candidate EVD vaccines and are considering a third that may be added to the lust. We have also applied for experimental drugs such as TKM-Ebola.”
“The TRG has submitted a detailed profile and brief on the oral antiviral agent which the Japanese Government has offered to make available to affected countries through the WHO. We are now considering the profile and brief to enable us reach a final decision on making it available to our patients.”
He explained that “our initial knowledge of the agent is that it has been shown to have strong antiviral activity against the influenza virus following phases I and II human trails, it is now going through phase III clinical trails; it is shown to have strong antiviral property against Ebola virus in vitro and in vivo.
These and the fact that it is considered safe, having passed through phase I and II clinical trails makes it good candidate drug for use in emergency situation as the EVD.”
Details later….