A new study has shown that a pair of experimental treatments could dramatically increase the chances of surviving Ebola.
The two drugs, made by Regeneron, are monoclonal antibodies developed using antibodies harvested from Ebola survivors. The treatments outperformed two other drugs —Gilead’s Remdisivir and Mapp Biopharmaceutical’s ZMapp — in a recent clinical trial being conducted in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). According to the researchers, 49 percent of patients taking ZMapp and 53 percent taking Remdisivir died in the study, compared to 29 percent and 34 percent of the patients taking the two Regeneron drugs. When given one of the Regeneron treatments (REGN-EB3) at an early stage of the disease, 94 percent lived.
The current outbreak of Ebola in the DRC his killed at least 1,800 people and has become the second largest in history. The two Regeneron treatments will now be offered to all Ebola patients in the DRC.
Read the full Reuters report.
