According to a recent clinical trial conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), ZMapp was found to be a safe and effective treatment for Ebola virus disease, but more study remains.
The trial, known as Partnership for Research on Ebola Virus in Liberia (PREVAIL II), found that while ZMapp appeared to be well-tolerated, the study did not enroll enough people to determine definitively if ZMapp is a better treatment for Ebola than the best available standard of care alone.
“Although we do not have definitive evidence that ZMapp is superior to the optimized standard of care, the results of the PREVAIL II trial are promising and provide valuable scientific data,” Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of NIAID, said. “Importantly, the study establishes that it is feasible to conduct a randomized, controlled trial during a major public health emergency in a scientifically and ethically sound manner.”
ZMapp involves three different laboratory-made proteins called monoclonal antibodies and is designed to target the main surface protein of the Ebola virus. Previous studies in non-human primates showed that ZMapp demonstrated strong antiviral activity and prevented death when treated up to five days after infection.
The PREVAIL II study was led by co-principal investigators Dr. Richard T. Davey, deputy clinical director of NIAID’s Division of Intramural Research; Dr. Moses Massaquoi, national chair for case management at the Ebola Incident Management System in Monrovia; Dr. Foday Sahr, brigadier general and first surgeon general of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces; and Dr. Dennis Malvy, head of the tropical medicine division at the University Hospital of Bordeaux.