WHO will launch next week in Congo clinical studies for two treatments against Ebola

At a press conference in Geneva, the Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced the completion of preparations for a study that will evaluate whether the antivirals MBP134 and Remdesivir can reduce mortality among patients with the Bundibugyo virus, either alone or in combination.

Tedros thanked the USA and Gilead Sciences for donating doses for the study, stating that further details will be communicated next week. The study will be led by a consortium consisting of the National Institute of Biomedical Research in Congo, ALIMA, the University of Oxford, and WHO.

The announcement came in the context of the first confirmed case of Ebola in France, involving a doctor returning from Congo. WHO assessed the risk to France and the global population as low, and French authorities have initiated an epidemiological investigation. In Congo, the Ebola outbreak has led to 1,094 confirmed cases and 277 deaths, and treatment and testing capacity has increased significantly. Tedros emphasized that the outbreak continues to exceed the response due to a lack of funding and other challenges.