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LAUDS MOTHER'S COVID RECOVERY AFTER EXPERIMENTAL DRUG INFUSION
Macclenny business owner Mark Akins is calling his mother's recovery from COVID-19 pneumonia this
month nothing short of "incredible."
He credits an experimental drug undergoing clinical trials from NRx Pharmaceuticals called avipdatil with
her recovery. Getting her the medication was no easy feat, however.
Bonnie Bonville's doctors at Piedmont Mountainside Hospital in Jasper, GA had given the 75-year-old
steroids but avoided anti-body treatments due to her history of kidney failure. After an arthritis medication to
suppress her immune system led to only a minor improvement of her condition, her doctors were out of
options, said Mr. Akins.
His sister then began researching online for alternative treatments and uncovered stage 3 clinical trials
ongoing for avipdatil.
The so-called "Right to Try Act," signed into federal law in 2018, gives those facing life-threatening
conditions the right to access treatments unapproved by the Food and Drug Administration. Part of the
process is petitioning the hospital for approval of the treatment. That was started and then contact was
made with the drug manufacturer.
That was on Friday, February 11, and then Saturday went by with no word from the company.
Mr. Akins then upgraded his Linkedin account so he could message the manufacturer's founder and CEO
Jonathan C. Javitt, MD, for help directly.
And it worked.
"Within 45 minutes he called on my cell phone and said he would move it forward," recalled Mr. Akins early
this week. "Twenty minutes later it was fully approved."
The closest location of the drug was four hours away in South Carolina, so off he traveled on Superbowl
Sunday, returning eight hours later with twice the dosage of the intravenous medication requested by the
hospital.
Once hospital staff completed training themselves on the proper administration of the experimental drug,
Ms. Bonville was treated during a three-day period with progressively more infusions of the medication.
"Forty-eight hours after the treatment, her lungs almost looked back to normal," said Mr. Akins. While she's
still recovering, he said, "she's out of the woods.
"A lot of people don't understand they have the ability to advocate for patients and the right to try
experimental medicines." said Mr. Akins.
"Everything just fell into place. It's an amazing story. It's just incredible," he said.
Good luck and GOD bless,
