FDA: First Ebola Virus Treatment Is Approved

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first treatment for Ebola virus in both adult and pediatric patients. The treatment, inmazeb (atoltivimab, maftivimab, and odesivimab-ebgn), is a combination of 3 monoclonal antibodies that is delivered intravenously in a single infusion.

In order to gain FDA approval, the researchers conducted a multicenter, open label, randomized controlled clinical trial during an outbreak in 2018 to 2019 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The results indicated that only 33.8% of the participants who received inmazeb had died, while 51% of the patients who received a control died after 28 dates. 

The most common adverse effects included fever, chills, tachycardia, tachypnea, and vomiting. Hypersensitivity is also a potential adverse effect of inmazeb, though if hypersensitivity occurs treatment should be discontinued. Inmazeb should not be administered after a live vaccine, as the treatment may reduce the vaccine’s efficacy.

—Leigh Precopio

Reference:

FDA Approves First Treatment for Ebola Virus. News release. US Food and Drug Administration; October 14, 2020. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-treatment-ebola-virus