Why the FDA Just Approved a Drug for Smallpox, Nearly 40 Years After the Disease Was Eradicated
By Rachael Rettner, Senior Writer | July 13, 2018 04:54pm ET
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just approved a drug for a disease that no longer exists...well, sort of.
Today (July 13), the agency announced it has approved TPOXX (generic name: tecovirimat), the first drug that specifically treats smallpox. Yes, smallpox, the disease that was eradicated from the world in 1980, thanks to a global vaccination campaign. (Eradication means that cases of the disease no longer occur naturally.)
However, despite global eradication, there remains a concern that the smallpox virus could be used as a bioweapon, the agency said.
https://www.livescience.com/63062-fda-approves-drug-for-smallpox.html
