Researchers began a highly anticipated study of two possible treatments on Thursday in hopes of fighting the still-growing , as the World Health Organization announced the enrollment of the first participant.
The virus causing this outbreak, , is less common than others that cause Ebola disease and there are no specific treatments or vaccines for it. Already more than 1,400 people have been diagnosed and 438 have died, WHO Director-General said Thursday.
Standard supportive care, especially if started early, can help and the WHO says more than 200 people have recovered. But there鈥檚 an urgent need for better options.
The trial 鈥渙ffers real hope that we can deliver concrete results for 鈥� and with 鈥� the communities at the heart of the outbreak,鈥� Tedros said in a statement.
Researchers will be testing if two drugs could improve survival. One is Gilead Sciences鈥� remdesivir, a broad-acting antiviral approved to treat COVID-19 but that has shown some hints in lab tests that it may help fight the currently spreading virus. The other is Mapp Biopharmaceutical鈥檚 experimental MBP134, antibodies engineered to target Ebola viruses including Bundibugyo.
All patients enrolled in the trial would receive today鈥檚 best standard care and be randomly assigned to also receive remdesivir, MBP134, both or neither, said WHO research adviser Dr. Vasee Moorthy. Survival will be tracked for 28 days after starting treatment.
It could take months and possibly as many as 1,000 study participants to tell if either drug works, Moorthy cautioned, explaining that scientists could tell more quickly, and with fewer patients, if one or the other turns out to be highly effective.
Currently the study is being offered only in one Ebola treatment center in Congo鈥檚 Ituri province. The region has been , including toward healthcare workers trying to fight a virus spread by contact with sick patients鈥� bodily fluids. Officials plan to expand to other locations once it is safe to do so.
Moorthy said enough of each drug had been donated by Gilead and the U.S. government, which has funded MBP134 research and owns those doses, for the trial. If either proves effective, the next step would be ensuring patients can continue to access the treatment outside the study.
The WHO-supported trial is a collaboration between Congo鈥檚 national biomedical research institute INRB, Britain鈥檚 Oxford University, Antwerp’s Institute of Tropical Medicine and other international health groups.
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