A highly anticipated clinical trial testing two potential Ebola treatments got underway Thursday in eastern Congo, with the World Health Organization confirming that the first patient has been enrolled in the study.
The current outbreak is being caused by a strain of the virus known as Bundibugyo, which is rarer than other Ebola-causing strains and has no approved treatments or vaccines targeting it specifically. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reported Thursday that the outbreak has already infected more than 1,400 people and killed 438.
While standard supportive care — particularly when administered early — has helped more than 200 people recover, health officials say there is an urgent need for more effective treatment options.
Tedros said the trial “offers real hope that we can deliver concrete results for – and with – the communities at the heart of the outbreak.”
The study will examine whether two drugs can improve patients’ chances of survival. The first is remdesivir, made by Gilead Sciences — a broad-spectrum antiviral that was approved to treat COVID-19 and has shown some early laboratory indications that it may also be effective against the Bundibugyo strain. The second is an experimental drug called MBP134, developed by Mapp Biopharmaceutical, which uses engineered antibodies designed to target Ebola viruses including Bundibugyo.
Every patient enrolled in the trial will receive the best currently available standard care, and will then be randomly assigned to also receive remdesivir, MBP134, both drugs together, or neither, according to WHO research adviser Dr. Vasee Moorthy. Researchers will monitor each patient’s survival for 28 days following the start of treatment.
Moorthy cautioned that the process could take months and may require up to 1,000 participants before scientists can determine whether either drug is effective — though he noted that a particularly strong result from one of the drugs could become apparent sooner and with fewer patients.
For now, the trial is only being offered at a single Ebola treatment facility in Congo’s Ituri province. The area has faced serious security challenges, including violence directed at healthcare workers battling a virus that spreads through contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals. Health officials say they plan to expand the trial to additional sites once conditions allow.
Moorthy confirmed that sufficient quantities of both drugs have been secured for the trial — remdesivir donated by Gilead, and MBP134 doses provided by the U.S. government, which has funded the drug’s development and holds ownership of those supplies. Should either treatment prove effective, officials say the next priority will be ensuring continued patient access beyond the scope of the study.
The trial is backed by the WHO and represents a partnership among Congo’s national biomedical research institute INRB, Britain’s Oxford University, Antwerp’s Institute of Tropical Medicine, and several other international health organizations.
