According to a new study published Friday, March 14, pills can be used to cure monkeys infected with Ebola, which may pave the way for more practical and affordable treatments in humans.
First identified in 1976 and considered to be crossed from bats, Ebola is a deadly viral disease that spreads through direct contact with body fluids, resulting in severe bleeding and organ failure. The nature of the outbreak has made clinical trials difficult because pharmaceutical companies lack economic incentives to develop treatments because of the outbreak that has primarily affected sub-Saharan Africa.
A vaccine was approved in 2019, and while two intravenous antibody treatments improve the prognosis, they require expensive refrigeration and are difficult to manage in some of the poorest areas in the world.
“We are really working to come up with something more practical and easier to use that can be used to help prevent, control and curb outbreaks,” Thomas Geisbert, a virologist at the University of Texas Medical branch, leads new research published on scientific advancement, he told AFP.
For experiments, Geisbert and colleagues tested the antiviral obeldesivir, an oral form of intravenous injection, initially for COVID-19.
Obeldesivir is a “polymerase inhibitor”, which means it blocks enzymes that are critical to viral replication.
The group infected rhesus monkeys and cynomolgus macaques with high doses of Ebola variants.
The next day after contact, ten monkeys received a pill every day for ten days, while three control monkeys were not treated and died.
Obeldesivir protects 80% of cynomolgus macaques and 100% of rhesus macaques, which are biologically closer to humans.
The drug not only clears the virus from the blood of treated monkeys, but also triggers an immune response that helps them develop antibodies while avoiding organ damage.
Geisbert explained that despite the relatively small number of monkeys, the study is statistically powerful because they are exposed to a very high dose of the virus — about 30,000 times the lethal dose of humans. This reduces the need for additional control of monkeys, thus limiting unnecessary animal deaths.
Researchers who have worked for Ebola since the 1980s say the most exciting aspect of Obeldesivir is its “broad spectrum” protection compared to endorsed antibody treatments targeting only the Ebola Zaire species.
“It’s a huge advantage,” Gasbert said.
Gilead Pharmaceutical Maker, currently advancing Obeldesivir to phase 2 clinical trials of Ebola’s close relative Marburg virus.
Gasbert also stressed the importance of NIH funding.
“All the drugs and vaccines developed against Ebola and many of these exogenous viruses and pathogens – 90% of the money comes from the U.S. government and I think, I think the general public will agree that we need to treat Ebola.”
