Promising Ebola drugs
Scientists are hopeful that they have found two drugs that show promise in treating Ebola.
Scientists are hopeful that they have found two drugs that show promise in treating Ebola. In a trial conducted by an international research group co-ordinated by the World Health Organization that began last year, four drugs were tested on patients in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Health officials said that the two most successful drugs ─ REGN-EB3 and mAb114 ─ will now be used to treat all patients with Ebola in the DRC. The trial was co-sponsored by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which said that the results are ‘very good news’ for the fight against Ebola.
Although it is unlikely that the new drugs will lead to Ebola being eradicated, there is hope that they will help to mitigate outbreaks. "We won't ever get rid of Ebola but we should be able to stop these outbreaks from turning into major national and regional epidemics," said Jeremy Farrar, Director of the Wellcome Trust.