Ebola: Usa, yes at first therapy for adult and pediatric patients

The Food and Drug Administration (Fda), the US regulatory body for drugs, has approved the first therapy for Ebola patients: it is a cocktail of three monoclonal antibodies and is suitable for both adult and pediatric patients , as the US agency itself explains on its website.

The three antibodies are atoltivimab, maftivimab and odesivimab-ebgn and are effective against Zaire ebolavirus, one of the four viral species that cause the disease.

    The drug works by affecting the glycoprotein found on the surface of the virus and attaches itself to the cell's receptors, allowing the virus to enter it. The three antibodies attach themselves simultaneously to this protein, preventing it from binding to the cell and thus opening the way for the virus. The drug was tested on 382 adult and pediatric patients with confirmed Ebola infection, as part of a trial conducted in the Democratic Republic of Congo during the 2018-2019 outbreak under the coordination of the US National Institutes of Health (Nih) and the Congolese National Institute for Biomedical Research, with the contribution of other international organizations and agencies. During the trial, 154 patients received the drug with a single intravenous infusion, while the other 168 were only controlled. (HANDLE).