This week U.B. The Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the Ebola drug is a major milestone in the development of the drug – it is closely linked to our current efforts to combat Covid-19.
Before COVID-19 began to spread around the world, Ebola was the most high-profile viral disease on the planet. “Everyone is fast and willing to contribute to Ebola and do what they don’t do regularly because Ebola is such a horrible situation,” said virologist Daniel Bausch. There are edges Justin Kalma last August. “There are a lot of bad diseases in the world, but there aren’t a lot of people who provoke the same kind of feedback and the kind of deck approach to things.”
More than a year later, and Ebola trials have finally paid off in more ways than one. The drug is an antibody therapy developed by a regeneron called Enzeb, and helped dramatically increase survival rates in Ebola patients during an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In addition to being a viable drug to treat Ebola, these tests also provided a blueprint for responses to future ‘all-hands-on-deck’ viral outbreaks. At the time, researchers were conducting clinical trials in the midst of a fatal outbreak. Now, some of the same techniques that were used during the Ebola epidemic are being used today to design clinical trials for the treatment of Covid-19.
The trial for Ebola drugs focuses on four possible treatments. Two of them, Remedesivir and Zmap, did not reduce the mortality rate in Ebola patients dramatically – at least not compared to their competitors. The other two had relatively better outcomes for survival between 89 and 94 percent in some patients. They used lab-grown antibodies called monoclonal antibodies to help treat people infected with the virus. One successful drug, REGN-EB3, later became Inmazeb.
At the time, it was a new way of doing things. During the fatal outbreak of Ebola in West Africa between 2013 and 2016, clinical trials progressed at a very slow pace, and researchers were unable to obtain sufficient data to draw conclusions about possible treatments. Scientists knew that Ebola would return, and during a future outbreak of the disease, they wanted to find a way to cure it quickly. The World Health Organization and many other international partners learned the lesson of the West African outbreak and created a framework that could be used to conduct ethical clinical trials during future epidemics.
When the DRC began to erupt in 2018, researchers implemented the plan. They faced challenging circumstances, including mistrust of the government and health officials, unstable power supplies and regional violence. But it still worked. “This trial showed that it is possible to conduct scientifically rigorous and ethical research in the field of conflict, even in the field of conflict,” the researcher wrote in a report. New England Journal of Medicine In 2019.
The success of the 2018 Ebola trial, and others like it, is part of what helped COVID-19 research move faster after the virus began to spread. Back in February, researchers had already begun investigating the treatment, modeling their efforts and conducting an Ebola trial in 2018. “What we learned from Ebola is definitely something that is helping to make us better even during this outbreak.” Said Andre Calil, professor of internal medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center There are edges Nicole Wetsman in February.
There is still a long way to go. We are beginning to see early signs of what drugs may work to treat Covid-1 treat in certain circumstances, and what may not. (Remadesivir was declared an emergency by the FDA in May but is now on thin ice). But even at a remarkably fast pace, it took another two years for Ebola treatment to be fully FDA approved, ranging from clinical trials. It won’t take too long to see immediate approval of another COVID-19 treatment, but full approval may still be a distant spot on the horizon – despite all hands on deck.
Here’s what else happened this week.
Research
The “Barring Immunity” strategy of the Great Barrington Declaration is a nightmare
The epidemic is set to continue for a long time. A lot of people want to move on, and some have proposed some pretty immoral ways to do it. At Vox, Brian Resnick breaks down as the proposed ‘mob immunity’ strategy is a nightmare – and it looks like defeat.
(Brian Resnik /Vox)
A rare covid-19 complication was reported in children. Now, it is appearing in adults.
Earlier this year a strange inflammatory syndrome appeared in some children with COVID-19. The condition is now appearing in a few adults, but it still seems rare.
(Erica Edwards /NBC)
‘No one has very clear answers for them’: Doctors seek treatment for Covid-19 long-huleurs
Researchers and doctors are still trying to figure out how to care for Covid-19 patients with symptoms that will not go away.
(Lenny Bernstein /Washington Post)
Development
NIH Ally suspends green covid-19 antibody trial due to safety concerns
The antibody treatment trial was postponed this week amid safety concerns. State The NIHA reportedly postponed the trial because one of the two groups – placebo or treatment – was doing better than the other.
(Damien Garde and Matthew Harper /State)
Johnson and Johnson discontinue COVID-19 vaccine trial due to unexplained illness
The second trial, this one for a vaccine, was stopped this week. The trial of the second Covid-19 vaccine, which caused the trial to be postponed due to an unexplained illness in the participant, is to be stopped. Two trials of the vaccine administered by Pfizer and Moderna were conducted in the U.S. Still running in. (Nicole Wetsman /Edge)
Pfizer says it will not seek vaccine authorization before mid-November
For a while, Pfizer promised that its vaccine tests would result in results by mid-October. Now, saying they may have some data by the end of the month, they will not seek FDA approval until early November.
(Katie Thomas and Noah Willand /NYT)
Remadesivir fails to prevent Kovid-19 deaths in a huge trial
Remdesivir’s WHO trial found that it does not prevent death. The analysis has not yet been peer-reviewed, and some researchers say the trial was not properly designed. (Catherine J. Wu /NYT)
U.S. In, 50 states could mean 50 vaccine rollout strategies
Marine McKenna takes us through a potentially haphazard rollout of the future COVID-19 vaccine.
(Marine McKenna /Wired)
Perspective
Guardians of Elmhurst
“About 4,000 people work at Elmhurst Hospital and about 3,000 of them are women.” Matty Cahn highlights the four women who helped keep Elmhurst Hospital afloat during the horrific COVID-19 spike in New York City earlier this year.
(Matty Kahn / Glamor)
More than the number
For more than 39,393,994 people worldwide who tested positive, your path to recovery may be easier.
The families and friends of the 1,105,462 people who died worldwide – 218,602 in the U.S. – have not forgotten your loved ones.
Be safe, everyone.
