Experimental ZMapp treatment for Ebola appears effective in clinical trial

According to a recent clinical trial conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the experimental Ebola virus disease (EVD) treatment ZMapp was found to be safe and well-tolerated amongst participants.

NIH said that while the treatment appeared to be effective for participants, the trial enrolled too few people to definitively determine whether ZMapp was a better option than the best available care now.

“This trial was designed and developed during the height of the EVD epidemic, which was well underway by the time the study was initiated,” said Dr. Chris Kratochvil, associate vice chancellor for clinical research at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC).

UNMC served as a clinical testing location for NIH for the study.

The study examined whether the ZMapp treatment with the optimized standard of care using intravenous fluids, balancing electrolytes needed for bodily functions and maintaining healthy oxygen and blood pressure levels, was superior to the optimized standard of care alone in reducing deaths from the disease.

The researchers compared the number of deaths 28 days after enrollment. Of the 35 participants, 13 deaths were reported in patients who received the optimized standard of care only, while only eight deaths out of 36 participants were reported in patients who received the optimized standard of care with ZMapp added.

The findings appeared in the October issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.