Congo’s Bundibugyo Ebola Outbreak: WHO-Backed PARTNERS Trial Tests Monoclonal Antibody MBP134 and Antiviral Remdesivir in Ituri Province as 38 New Cases Emerge Daily With No Approved Treatment Available
Researchers launched the first clinical trial in Congo’s Ituri province testing remdesivir and MBP134 against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which has infected more than 1,400 and killed 438 since May. Eastern Herald
The PARTNERS (Platform Adaptive Randomised Trial for New and Repurposed Filovirus TreatmentS) trial will assess whether two antiviral therapies; a monoclonal antibody (MBP134) and remdesivir, can improve survival among people diagnosed with Bundibugyo virus disease.
All patients enrolled in the trial receive today’s best standard care and are randomly assigned to also receive remdesivir, MBP134, both or neither. Survival is tracked for 28 days after starting treatment. It could take months and possibly as many as 1,000 study participants to determine if either drug works.
The WHO said the Ebola response faces many challenges, taking place against the backdrop of a region ravaged by conflict, with pre-existing deep humanitarian needs. The outbreak continues to expand, with an average of 38 new confirmed cases every day for the past two weeks.
Enough of each drug has been donated by Gilead and the U.S. government for the trial. The WHO-supported effort is a collaboration between Congo’s national biomedical research institute INRB, Britain’s Oxford University, Antwerp’s Institute of Tropical Medicine and other international health groups. Africa CDC is calling for $18 million to fund the full research programme.
There is no approved cure for Bundibugyo Ebola. For six weeks, clinicians have had only fluids, fever management and isolation to offer 1,400 infected patients. The trial does not guarantee a cure; it creates the first mechanism to find one.
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