One person died, and five others were hospitalized, after a clinical trial of an experimental drug in France went tragically wrong.
But days after the first public acknowledgement of the incidents on 15 January, a lack of official information has left outside experts and the public largely in the dark as to what happened.
Many researchers believe that the trial molecule is acting ‘off target’ — in other words, inhibiting a protein other than targeted.
In particular, neither the French authorities nor Biotrial has disclosed the identity of the molecule administered in the trials.
The trial, which involved taking the drug orally and has now been suspended, was conducted by a private laboratory in Rennes. The experimental drug was manufactured by the Portuguese company Bial. All those who volunteered for the trial have been recalled and the Paris prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation.
Health Minister Marisol Touraine pledged to “get to the bottom… of this tragic accident”. “I was overwhelmed by their distress” she told reporters. “Their lives have been brutally turned upside down”.
More information regarding this molecule like, what was target, how it should work, its uses and many more…. soon will be in next few posts.