WHO to provide antiviral drug courses for Mpox treatment to Pakistan govt

ISLAMABAD: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has agreed to provide 25 treatment courses of experimental antiviral drug ‘tecovirimat’ to the government of Pakistan for ‘compassionate use’ in the treatment of Mpox (formerly Monkey Pox) on very tough conditions, officials said on Thursday.

“The WHO officials, on our request, have offered to provide us the latest antiviral drug tecovirimat for the treatment of smallpox, cowpox, monkeypox and vaccinia complications. We need this drug to treat Mpox patients who are coming to Pakistan from Gulf countries,” an official of the National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHS,R&C) told ‘The News’.

The Health authorities in Islamabad had requested the WHO for the provision of recently-developed antiviral drugs ‘tecovirimat and cidofovir’ for the treatment of a 40-year male who had recently returned from Saudi Arabia and tested positive for both HIV and Mpox, saying the condition of the patient was deteriorating as the latest antiviral medicine for the Mpox treatment was not available in Pakistan.

According to the WHO, on the basis of animal studies, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (“MHRA”) have found that Tecovirimat SIGA (“tecovirimat”) is expected to be effective at reducing mortality caused by monkeypox, and have authorised Tecovirimat for the treatment of monkeypox, cowpox, smallpox and vaccinia complications in the European Union and the United Kingdom under “exceptional circumstances”.

The WHO further says that it is not aware of any other treatments authorised for monkeypox infections, except for tecovirimat, which is authorised in the European Union and the United Kingdom only, the NHS official, quoting a WHO communique added.

He maintained that in a letter to the government of Pakistan, the WHO said it has purchased from SIGA a limited number of treatment courses of tecovirimat capsules 200mg, which are currently held by the WHO at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

“WHO is willing to provide your government, free of charge, with a quantity of 25 treatment courses of tecovirimat held in the WHO Reserves, exclusively for compassionate use to treat patients who are hospitalised and have, or are at immediate risk of, severe or complicated monkeypox disease,” the official said quoting a WHO offer letter.

He said the federal Health Secretary Dr Iftikhar Shallwani on the insistence of the PIMS Head of Infectious Diseases Prof. Nasim Akhtar had wrote a letter to the WHO Country Representative to Pakistan Dr Palitha Mahipala for the provision of latest antiviral medications for the treatment of a patient who was both HIV and Mpox positive and in critical condition due to the multiple infections.

He said the WHO wanted guarantee that the supplies of tecovirimat provided by WHO would exclusively be used for compassionate use in the treatment of ‘eligible patients with monkeypox’. The WHO also wants confirmation that all approvals, authorisations, clearances, licenses and permits that are necessary or required for the importation and compassionate use of tecovirimat in the treatment of ‘eligible patients with monkeypox in Pakistan’ are acquired accordingly, he added.

“WHO has also sought guarantee that it will not sell any supplies of tecovirimat provided under this letter, other than against a nominal charge to recuperate expenses incurred in connection with the delivery of those supplies to eligible patients with monkeypox and it will not export or otherwise make available for use outside the country any supplies of tecovirimat,” he added.