WHO launches clinical trial for experimental Ebola treatments in DR Congo

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has launched a clinical trial in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to test two experimental treatments for Bundibugyo Virus Disease (BVD), a rare strain of Ebola.

The trial comes amid growing concern over the outbreak in Central and East Africa. In May, the WHO declared the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern, citing the increasing spread of the virus and the possibility of cross-border transmission. However, the agency clarified that the situation has not reached the threshold of a pandemic emergency under international health regulations.

According to the WHO, the study — known as the Platform Adaptive Randomised Trial for New and Repurposed Filovirus Treatments (PARTNERS) — will evaluate the effectiveness of two antiviral therapies, monoclonal antibody treatment MBP134 and remdesivir, in improving survival rates among patients diagnosed with BVD.

Researchers will also investigate whether combining both treatments could provide additional benefits for infected patients.

The WHO said the trial is being sponsored by the organisation and coordinated by the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale (INRB) in the DRC, the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Belgium, and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. The initiative is also being conducted in partnership with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

The agency disclosed that more than 1,400 people have been diagnosed with BVD since the outbreak began in the DRC. Nearly 210 patients have recovered, while close to 440 people have died from the disease.

WHO noted that although approved treatments exist for some forms of Ebola virus disease, none has yet been approved specifically for Bundibugyo Virus Disease, and there is currently no therapy proven to work against all Ebola-causing virus strains.

The organisation explained that the selected treatments were recommended by its technical advisory group following an extensive review of scientific evidence, including preclinical studies, safety records, and data gathered from previous outbreak responses.

Participants enrolled in the trial will receive close monitoring and follow-up care for at least 28 days after joining the study.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, expressed optimism that the trial could significantly improve survival outcomes for patients and affected communities.

“Even without approved therapeutics, people are recovering from this disease, but of course, we could save many more lives with safe and effective therapeutics in our toolkit,” he said.

He added that the rapid establishment of the PARTNERS trial in collaboration with national authorities and scientific partners offers hope for meaningful results during the ongoing outbreak.

Amanda Rojek, operations lead for the PARTNERS trial and associate professor of health emergencies at the Pandemic Sciences Institute at the University of Oxford, said past Ebola outbreaks highlighted the need to integrate research into emergency response efforts.

“We urgently need treatments that can help people affected by Bundibugyo virus disease. One of the key lessons from recent outbreaks is that research needs to happen alongside the response, not after it,” she said.