The latest experimental Ebola treatment could come from Fujifilm. The Japanese camera company based in Tokyo ventured into the pharmaceutical industry five years ago, acquiring a company with an experimental flu vaccine that may soon be used to help patients fight the deadly Ebola virus disease.
With at least 1,427 people having died in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone during the most recent Ebola outbreak, health workers are scrambling to find possible treatments. The top candidate was ZMapp, made by Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc., headquartered in San Diego. ZMapp has been credited with helping two American aid workers who contracted the virus, as Reuters noted. However, its efficacy also has been questioned after a Liberian doctor died despite receiving the same treatment, as BBC News pointed out. In any case, the company recently warned that its available supply of ZMapp was exhausted, leaving authorities to looking elsewhere for another option.