Japan ready to offer trial Ebola drug

Tokyo -Tokyo stands ready to offer an experimental drug
developed by a Japanese company to help stem the global
tide of the deadly Ebola virus, the top government
spokesman said Monday.
"Our country is prepared to provide the yet-to-be approved
drug in cooperation with the manufacturer if the WHO
requests," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has been discussing
the use of unapproved drugs as a way of getting a handle
on an outbreak in Africa that has already cost more than
1,400 lives, with thousands more people infected.
There is currently no available cure or vaccine for Ebola,
and the WHO has declared the latest outbreak a global
public health emergency.
Several drugs are under development.
The use of an experimental drug called ZMapp on two
Americans and a Spanish priest infected with the virus
while working in Africa has opened up an intense ethical
debate.
The drug, which is in very short supply, has reportedly
shown promising results in the two Americans, although
the priest died.
US company Mapp Bioparmaceutical which makes the drug
said this month it had sent all its available supplies to west
Africa.
The WHO earlier said a panel of medical experts had
determined it is "ethical" to provide experimental
treatments.
Suga said Monday: "Even before the WHO reaches a
conclusion, we are ready to respond to individual requests
(from medical workers) under certain conditions if it is an
urgent case."
The medication Suga was referring to is Avigan, a drug in
tablet form that was approved as an anti-influenza drug in
Japan in March and is currently in clinical tests in the United
States.
Its developer Fujifilm Holdings said it had received
inquiries from abroad but declined to say how many and
from which countries.
The company, which has diversified into healthcare fields,
has "no problem" over the amount of stockpiles,
according to spokesman Takao Aoki.
"We have sufficient supplies for more than 20,000 people,"
he said.