US releases experimental Ebola drug for DR Congo outbreak trials - sh.itjust.works

> Experimental Ebola drugs are being shipped to Democratic Republic of Congo as the United States releases doses of a treatment for clinical trials in a widening outbreak that has caused more than 1,000 cases and over 250 deaths, the World Health Organization and US officials have said. > The US Department of Health and Human Services confirmed it will provide doses of MBP134, an antibody drug developed by California-based Mapp Biopharmaceutical, for compassionate use in the DRC and to support a clinical trial in the outbreak region. > >“The drug is being made available for compassionate use in Congo as well as to advance a clinical trial in the outbreak region,” a department spokesperson told Reuters. > >Washington had previously said doses of the drug would only be made available to its own citizens considered at high risk after exposure to the virus. > >Trial data could help support future regulatory review and possible US approval, the spokesperson added, declining to say how many doses were being provided. > >No approved vaccines or treatments exist for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which is responsible for the outbreak. > >The DRC has recorded more than 1,000 confirmed cases since the outbreak was confirmed on 15 May. The number of cases has risen faster than in any previous Ebola outbreak on record, the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies warned. …