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monkeypox drug trial is underway at oxford

the drug showed promise treating primates and rabbits, but has never been tested on humans on a large scale before.

smallpox drug tecovirimat undergoing human trials for monkeypox
tecovirimat was approved by health canada as an "extraordinary use" drug for smallpox in 2021. getty
a team of oxford university researchers are testing out an antiviral drug as a potential treatment for monkeypox.
tecovirimat, sometimes called tpoxx, is a smallpox drug that was developed by the us national institute of allergy and infectious diseases following the anthrax attacks in the u.s. in 2001. smallpox has largely been eradicated in much of the world, but post 9/11, there was concern that it might re-surface as a bioweapon, the scientific journal nature explains.
the drug works by preventing orthopox viruses (a group that includes both smallpox and monkeypox) from creating a protein that help the virus spread to other cells. the virus is then essentially trapped inside a limited amount of cells, which can then be fought off more easily using the body’s immune system.

previous studies have found that primates with monkeypox, and rabbits with rabbitpox, fared better after treatment with tecovirimat: the animals who got the drug had a lower viral load, fewer lesions and a higher survival rate than the animals who didn’t. but the drug has never been tested on humans before, outside of a few very smallscale studies, because there was simply no one to test it on in the western world. (it’s worth noting, though, that monkeypox cases have been spreading for decades in central and west africa.) in 2018, when the animals studies were underway, researchers decided it would be unethical to infect people with any orthopox virus

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now, though, monkeypox has been declared a global health emergency . rates are climbing worldwide: there are more than 46,000 cases worldwide , with about 1,200 in canada. the virus is not usually deadly, but it can be painful and incredibly unpleasant, causing rashes and lesions on much of the body as well as fever, chills, headaches and joint and muscle pain.

the new study will involve about 500 monkeypox patients. some will receive tecovirimat tablets twice a day, while the control group will get a placebo. researchers hope they’ll have usable data within a few months.
“the aim is to find a treatment that can help people get better quicker and get out of quarantine,” one of the researchers, prof. peter horby, told bbc news.
tecovirimat was approved by health canada as an “extraordinary use” drug for smallpox in 2021.
 
maija kappler is a reporter and editor at healthing. you can reach her at mkappler@postmedia.com
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