June 26 (Reuters) – The United States is sending doses of an experimental Ebola treatment to Africa and preparing to deploy 2,500 diagnostic tests to help contain an ongoing Bundibugyo ebolavirus outbreak, health officials said on Friday.
The measures, led by the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) through its Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), are intended to support response efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.
Here are some details:
• The Bundibugyo strain currently has no approved vaccines or treatments, underscoring the need for experimental countermeasures.
• As part of the response, ASPR is supporting the transfer of doses of MBP134, an experimental monoclonal antibody therapy developed with Mapp Biopharmaceutical, for compassionate use in the affected countries.
• It is also providing doses for a randomized clinical trial run by the University of Oxford to evaluate the drug.
• MBP134 has shown activity against multiple Ebola species in preclinical studies and completed an early-stage safety trial, ASPR said, adding that data from its use during the outbreak could inform future regulatory decisions.
• BARDA has pre-positioned 2,500 rapid diagnostic tests for potential deployment to Africa to help detect infections and guide public health responses.
• In parallel, BARDA is advancing vaccine development targeted at the Bundibugyo strain through a request for proposals seeking candidates based on the same platform used for Merck’s Ervebo, the first U.S.-approved Ebola vaccine, which targets the Zaire strain.
(Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
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