Chimerix, Inc. (CMRX)

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From Forbes: Josh responding well to CMRX drug.

David Kroll

David Kroll, Contributor, 4/03/2014 @ 7:39AM |169 views
Virginia Boy Responding To Chimerix Anti-Adenovirus Drug; Celebrates 8th Birthday

Last month, we reported on a request from a Virginia family for compassionate use access to an antiviral drug under development by Chimerix, a small biotech company in Durham, North Carolina. Their son, Josh Hardy, had developed an adenoviral infection following a bone marrow transplant for rhabdoid carcinoma of the kidney at St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis.

The standard drug of choice is an antiviral called cidofovir (Gilead; Vistide®), but its use sometimes causes kidney damage. Josh’s parents report that he had been suffering from this side effect and approached Chimerix for “extended access” to a newer version of cidovofvir called brincidofovir, or CMX001. This version of the antiviral carries a modification to prevent kidney damage while also being more potent as an antiviral drug.

For more specific details, see our March 12th article where we spoke with brincidofovir developer, Dr. Karl Hostetler, former researcher at the University of California at San Diego and now president and CEO of Hera Pharmaceuticals.

After a large social media campaign – and death threats to Chimerix CEO, Kenneth I. Moch – the company made the drug available to Josh’s doctors under a newly-established, open-label CMX-001 trial for 20 patients.

Josh’s mother, Aimee, reported on their CaringBridge.org page that the boy seems to have responded well to the drug. After only two doses of CMX-001, Josh’s adenoviral DNA counts dropped from 250,000 to 1,000 and his kidneys appear to be improving. (Bear in mind that this is a report from the family, not the doctors or Chimerix.)

http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkroll/2014/04/03/virginia-boy-responding-to-chimerix-anti-adenovirus-drug-celebrates-8th-birthday/?partner=yahootix