今年世界医药健康领域最为重大的事件莫过于爆发在西非的埃博拉疫情。这一疫情造成了数以千计的患者死于非命。而这一疫情，也迫使生物医药产业和世界各国政府开始正视目前治疗埃博拉病毒药物空白的这一事实。
最近，研究人员宣布，两种有望治疗埃博拉病毒的药物即将进入临床研究阶段。这两种药物分别是Chimerix公司的brincidofovir和Fujifilm公司的favipiravir。根据研究人员估计，这些研究最快将于下个月启动。如果一切顺利的话，研究人员将于2015年二月份获得初步的研究结果。而这一速度也得益于相关医药管理部门对这一研究的应急审核机制。
牛津大学将领衔brincidofovir的临床研究，而法国国家健康中心则负责牵头favipiravir的临床研究。而比利时的The Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine同期也将进行关于埃博拉病人恢复期的治疗方案研究。
相关人士表示，这三个研究计划将有助于在短时间内找到治疗埃博拉病毒的最佳疗法并探索治疗这种疾病的联合疗法方案。

详细英文报道：

Two experimental antivirals are about to undergo snap clinical trials in Africa as doctors scramble to find an effective remedy for the lethal outbreak of Ebola. Doctors Without Borders says that it plans to launch studies of brincidofovir from Chimerix ($CMRX) as well as Fujifilms favipiravir.

The nonprofit group plans to launch the studies next month with results available as early as February 2015. And they plan to respond quickly to any signs of progress, including adapting the trials to include combination treatments. So far the Ebola virus has killed more than 5,000 people in West Africa.
The University of Oxford will lead the Wellcome Trust-funded brincidofovir study while the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research will manage a trial using favipiravir in Guéckédou, Guinea. The Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine will lead a trial of convalescent whole blood and plasma therapy at the Donka Ebola centre in Conakry, Guinea.
\"These three trials are part of the first phase of a research aimed at finding the best treatment to cure patients with Ebola,\" said Professor Denis Malvy, who will lead one of the trials in Guinea. \"The three trial boards will therefore be coordinated in a very reactive way, so that any new fact can be discussed rapidly and our research plans can be adapted accordingly. Strengthening the link between our teams is all the more important as there is the possibility that, should our trials give positive results, the next phase could consist of combining interventions.\"
Fujifilms antiviral, which halts viral gene replication, has already been used to successfully treat four Ebola patients, spurring new studies of the antibody cocktail and a plan to gain an emergency approval sometime next year. The treatment is already approved in Japan and is in the final stages of gaining an approval as a flu therapy in the U.S.
Durham, NC-based Chimerix, meanwhile, is pursuing its own rushed Phase II study aimed at healthcare workers infected with the Ebola virus. In recent weeks the biotech has added details on its study design listed on clinicaltrials.gov. The trial calls for 50 patients aged 2 months to 75 years old who test positive for the lethal Ebola virus. The biotech plans to start off Ebola patients with a 200-mg dose of brincidofovir (CMX001), to be followed up with four 100-mg doses over the next two weeks. The study is slated to wrap up a little more than a year from now.
Back at the beginning of October Chimerix garnered headlines around the world when the antiviral was used in a failed attempt to save a newly diagnosed--and very sick--patient in Dallas. Another case involved freelance journalist Ashoka Mukpo, who did recover. More compassionate use requests were expected, and Chimerix CEO Michelle Berrey immediately returned to the FDA to see if they could rush out a design for a formal study that could be added to their development plans for the program.

转自生物谷