US frees up another experimental Ebola drug

US regulators loosened restrictions on a new experimental drug for treating Ebola, which may allow it to be tried on infected patients in West Africa, the company said Thursday. The Canada-based company, Tekmira, said the US Food and Drug Administration changed the classification of its drug TKM-Ebola from full clinical hold to partial hold. "This action enables the potential use of TKM-Ebola in individuals infected with Ebola virus," said a company statement. Tests on monkeys have shown the drug provided 100 percent protection from an otherwise lethal dose of Ebola, the company said.