Ebola Drug proved effective for monkeys

Vademecum

An experimental drug against Ebola has been successfully tested on rhesus monkeys. The drug was tested on macaques by Sarepta Therapeutics and the American Military Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID).

During the study, it was found that the AVI-7537 drug from Sarepta Therapeutics Inc helps 75% of macaques infected with an almost lethal dose of ebolavirus survive. At the same time, as experts note, successful animal trials do not always imply the same positive effect on humans.

The results of the study were published on February 10 in the scientific journal mBio (Warren et al., A Single Phosphorodiamidate Morpholino Oligomer Targeting VP24 Protects Rhesus Monkeys against Lethal Ebola Virus Infection – VM).

The drug contains a substance codenamed AVI-7537 – a small RNA molecule that binds to VP35 and VP24 sites of viral RNA. As a result of its action, the drug blocks the reproduction of the virus in the body. In the course of one of the latest studies of the American Military Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), it was found that to defeat Ebola, it is enough to block only one section of viral RNA – VP24.

According to WHO, by February 9, 23,000 cases of the disease had been reported in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, including 9,200 deaths.

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