The World Health Organization (WHO) has taken fresh steps to curb the rising Ebola epidemic in central Africa caused by a new Bundibugyo viral (BVD) strain, with efforts spanning drug research and the rollout of diagnostic BVD tests.
Through a clinical trial, dubbed PARTNERS, WHO and its international partners will evaluate the potential of two antiviral therapies alone or in combination for treating BVD. These include the first approved antiviral for Covid-19, Gilead Sciences’ Velkury (remdesivir), and Mapp Biopharmaceutical’s investigational double antibody-based Ebola therapy, MBP134 – with efforts beginning in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
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PARTNERS, sponsored by WHO, represents the amalgamation of efforts from several global health institutes, with the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale (INRB) in DRC leading the study. In addition, the Belgian Institute of Tropical Medicine, the University of Oxford, Africa CDC and other international clinical, research and humanitarian partners are playing a role in the study’s rollout and ongoing operations across the DRC.
This comes as 438 people have died from BVD in the DRC, the outbreak’s epicentre. No approved therapies currently exist to treat BVD specifically. While the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved drugs like Inmazeb (atoltivimab/maftivimab/odesivimab) and Ebanga (ansuvimab) to treat prior Ebolavirus strains, global regulators are yet to establish if these therapies are effective in BVD. Due to the lack of vaccines or treatments for this specific Ebola strain, WHO previously declared the outbreak an international emergency.
As global organisations search for ways to curb the emerging Ebola epidemic in Africa, health foundation, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), previously awarded Moderna and two other groups $60m to facilitate the development of vaccines against BVD.
Boosting diagnostic testing efforts
Alongside WHO’s intensifying therapeutic research efforts, the health organisation has also added the first molecular diagnostic test capable of detecting the virus to its Emergency Use Listing.
This means that Shanghai ZJ Bio-Tech Co’s CE-marked Ebola Virus (EBOV) Real Time RT-PCT Kit will now be available for use as a WHO-endorsed diagnostic test, with joint WHO and Africa CDC efforts facilitating the expansion of laboratory testing capacity to over 2,000 tests per day.
According to WHO, rapid and reliable diagnosis is a key part of identifying cases early and helping to gain control over outbreaks such as that seen in the DRC and parts of Uganda.
“Public health emergencies require not only speed, but also confidence that the health products being used meet standards for quality, safety and performance,” said Dr Yukiko Nakatani, WHO assistant director-general for health systems, access and data.
“During a fast-moving outbreak, timely access to quality-assured diagnostic tests can make a critical difference in containing transmission. Through this Emergency Use Listing, WHO is helping countries access trusted diagnostic tools more rapidly so that they can respond more effectively,” Nakatani added.
WHO is also evaluating ebola tests by KH Medical and altona Diagnostics. According to a progress document updated on 3 July, WHO has completed the QMS review on KH’s two diagnostic Ebola tests, while reviewers continue their assessment of altona’s test.
