Fast Track on Drug for Ebola Has Faltered

NEW YORK TIMES by Andrew Pollack                               Jan. 23, 2015

As Ebola raged through West Africa last summer, an experimental drug was tried for the first time on two American aid workers in Liberia who were gravely ill with the virus. Both recovered, one of them rapidly.

Medicago, in North Carolina, is gearing up for possible production of the Ebola drug ZMapp using its plant-based technology. Credit Gerry Broome/Associated Press

Though it could not be said for sure that the drug, ZMapp, was responsible, patients and doctors began clamoring for it. But there was enough to treat only a handful of patients. Federal officials vowed to produce more.

Six months later, very little has been produced, diminishing the chances that the drug can be used to treat large numbers of patients in the current outbreak, which appears to be ebbing.

The delays show some gaps in preparedness and have frustrated biodefense and infectious disease experts.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/23/business/fast-track-on-drug-for-ebola-has-faltered.html?_r=0