A clinical trial for two potential therapeutics for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola will be launched in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) next week, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, said today during a press conference.
The trial will test whether two antivirals, MBP134 and remdesivir, can help to reduce mortality in patients with Bundibugyo virus disease, alone or in combination, Tedros said. The United States and Gilead Sciences are donating all doses for the trial. The Bundibugyo strain has no approved vaccines or therapeutics, and the current outbreak is only the third caused by this strain in history.
Remdesivir is Gilead Science’s antiviral that was most notably used in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and was originally developed for hepatitis C. MBP134 is a monoclonal antibody cocktail developed as a pan-Ebola therapeutic by Mapp Biopharmaceutical.
The outbreak in the DRC now stands at 1,094 confirmed cases, with 277 deaths. Tedros said Ugandan officials confirmed another case, raising that country’s total to 20 cases, with two confirmed deaths. All cases in Uganda have epidemiological links to DRC.
The outbreak is continuing to move fast.
“The outbreak is continuing to move fast,” said Tedros.
France confirms case in doctor
France confirmed that a doctor who had recently been treating patients in DRC has Ebola. The French health ministry noted the doctor, who is in isolation, has a very low viral load, but had flown from DRC to France on an Air France flight. Five passengers seated near the doctor have also been identified and isolated.
The case marks the first time Ebola has been diagnosed in France.
According to the WHO, at least 80 health workers in the DRC have been infected during this outbreak.
Finally, a report today in the New York Times suggests some clinicians treating Ebola patients in the DRC are noting this outbreak is less deadly than previous Ebola outbreaks in the region. While this is welcome news for patient survival, some doctors fear milder cases will help further spread the virus.
As many as 90% of patients are not experiencing extensive bleeding, which likely allowed the virus to spread undetected for months, or be mistaken for malaria.
