Dallas Ebola patient in critical condition being treated with experimental drug

The Texas Health Presbyterian hospital in Dallas said on Monday that Thomas Eric Duncan began receiving the experimental antiviral drug brincidofovir, made by North Carolina-based biopharmaceutical company Chimerix, on Saturday. Duncan’s condition worsened over the weekend, and on Monday the hospital said he remains in critical but stable condition. “Based on in-vitro data from work conducted by the CDC and the National Institutes of Health, we are hopeful that brincidofovir may offer a potential treatment for Ebola during this outbreak,” Dr Michelle Berrey, the president and CEO of Chimerix, said in a statement.http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/06/nbc-photojournalist-diagnosed-ebola-nebraska Another experimental drug called ZMapp, made by Mapp Biopharmaceutical in San Diego, successfully treated earlier Ebola patients, including two U.S. aid workers. But ZMapp supplies have run out. Brincidofovir is an oral medication that’s meant to stop viruses from replicating. After the first reports of Ebola months ago, the company tested the drug, which can also be used against other viruses such as smallpox, and found positive results in early-stage trials.