American biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, on Thursday, October 3, announced that it will donate about 5,000 vials of its antiviral drug Remdesivir for emergency use in response to the Marburg virus disease outbreak in Rwanda.
In a statement it issued on Thursday, Gilead said it will make the donation to the Rwanda Medical Supply in conjunction with Rwanda's Ministry of Health, and the Africa Centers for Disease Control (Africa CDC).
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"The recent Marburg outbreak in Rwanda is one of the largest in history and while the country has built a strong public health system, filoviruses like Marburg can lead to significant morbidity and mortality," said Anu Osinusi, Vice President of Clinical Research for Hepatitis, Respiratory and Emerging Viruses at Gilead.
"With Gilead's broad experience in virology, we are committed to helping support the response to this outbreak as efficiently as possible. Our immediate focus is working closely with government and health authorities to provide access in Rwanda to remdesivir for emergency use."
During a press briefing on the Marburg virus outbreak, which was co-hosted by Africa CDC Director Dr Jean Kaseya, Rwanda's Health Minister Dr Sabin Nsanzimana said that the country was expecting around 5,000 doses of Remdesivir for emergency treatment of patients that are highly in need.
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Dr Kaseya said Africa CDC was working closely together with Rwanda and Gilead to get the therapeutics for the haemorrhagic fever disease.
He pointed out that even if Remdesivir was not 100 per cent confirmed as an effective drug for Marburg virus, "we have evidence that this drug is treating the disease."
Remdesivir is being provided for the treatment of Marburg Virus Disease in Rwanda following the authorisation for emergency use by the Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority (Rwanda FDA), Gilead said in the statement.
Meanwhile, it informed that remdesivir is not approved for the treatment of MVD anywhere globally, and the safety and efficacy of this use is not known.
Rwanda's Ministry of Health confirmed the Marburg virus outbreak on September 27.
As of October 3, the Ministry had confirmed 37 cases of the viral disease. Of those cases, 11 people had died of the disease.
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21 were in isolation and receiving treatment, while five had recovered, according to the ministry.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Marburg virus disease is a severe, often fatal illness in humans - its average case fatality rate is around 50 per cent, with case fatality rates having varied from 24 per cent to 88 per cent in past outbreaks depending on virus strain and case management.
There is no licensed treatment proven to neutralise the virus so far, but a range of blood products, immune therapies and drug therapies are currently under development, WHO indicated, adding that early supportive care with rehydration, and symptomatic treatment improves survival.
"We will continue to partner closely with the Rwanda Ministry of Health and other local and global groups and we're hopeful that early intervention and treatment with remdesivir could be helpful in responding to this Marburg outbreak," said Johanna Mercier, Gilead's Chief Commercial Officer.
