The parents of Josh Hardy have already been through trying times as the 7-year-old has survived cancer four times. However, in January, he went back to the hospital to fight a virus and his life could only be saved by an unapproved antiviral drug. Although drugmaker Chimerix said that it could not give him the drug at first, the company finally relented to help save Josh’s life.
Chimerix president Kenneth Moch announced Tuesday that it will allow Josh to take the drug, called brincidofovir. Josh’s father, Todd Hardy, told CNN that “it was overwhelming” to hear the news. His mother, Amiee, shared the news on Facebook, simply writing “Glory to GOD! They are releasing the drug for Josh!!!!!!!!!”
After Chimerix initially turned them down, the Hardy family took to the web to drum up support for Josh. “The one thing I would want to share with America is thank you so much for the love and support,” Aimee told Good Morning America.
Chimerix said that Josh will be the first patient to take part in a 20-patient open-label clinical trial and should receive the drug in the next 48 hours. The company started talks with the Food and Drug Administration to make sure it happened.
Josh has been fighting cancer since he was 9-months-old. He was diagnosed with a rare kidney cancer first, then dealt with thymus, lung, and bone marrow cancers. Josh beat cancer each time, but his battle with bone marrow cancer left wim with a weakened immune system. In February, after he was already in the ICU, he was diagnosed with an adenovirus.
“He was in complete heart failure and kidney failure and went into the ICU on January 14,” Aimee told GMA.
He is currently being treated at the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis.
Todd was quick to praise Moch for allowing his son to take the drug. “He's a super man. He worked diligently on behalf of everybody,” Todd told CNN. “His integrity was unquestioned. He was utterly professional.”
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