Monkeypox outbreak: Drugmaker SIGA says EU authorities seeking to stockpile its smallpox antiviral
By Natalie Huet • Updated: 21/05/2022 - 08:52
A US pharmaceutical company says it’s in talks with European authorities seeking to stockpile its antiviral drug for monkeypox amid an unusual international outbreak of a virus that can be deadly in up to one in 10 cases.
SIGA Technologies, a health security firm whose research was funded by the US government to address the threat posed by biological weapons, has developed an antiviral known as tecovirimat to fight smallpox and related viruses, including monkeypox.
Tecovirimat was approved to treat smallpox in the United States, where it’s sold as TPOXX.
Earlier this year, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved tecovirimat not only for smallpox, but also for monkeypox and cowpox, which are caused by viruses belonging to the same family of orthopoxviruses.
Stock Price:
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/SIGA/
BILTHOVEN - The GGD is asking people who have been in contact with or near someone who tested positive for the monkeypox virus to quarantine for up to three weeks. This is a precautionary measure, emphasizes a spokesperson for the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), because much is still unclear about the virus.