Shares of Chimerix soared more than 5 percent on Monday after news that its experimental drug brincidofovir was being used to treat the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States.
The disclosure that Thomas Eric Duncan began receiving the drug came hours after Chimerix announced that the antiviral drug has been approved for emergency use in Ebola patients. Other Ebola patients soon could also be receiving the drug as a result of the Food and Drug Administration's decision to approve it on a compassionate-use basis. Brincidofovir joins two other experimental antiviral drugs that have already been deployed in the battle against Ebola. Doctors stress that they have no idea whether experimental drugs can help Ebola patients. They say supportive care like oxygen and saline solution are as important, if not more important, for their survival.
IN-DEPTH
- Dallas Ebola Patient Gets Experimental Drug
- NBC News Freelancer 'Relieved' to Be at U.S. Hospital
- Spanish Nurse Is First Person to Contract Ebola Outside Africa
-- NBC News, CNBC
