Greg E. Mathieson Sr. / Rex Features
Lack of evidence for seven investigational drugs being developed for the treatment of Ebola virus disease means it is impossible to make any conclusions about their safety or efficacy, according to the findings of an interim review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) published on 16 December 2014.
The amount of evidence available for the products is “highly variable” and for some there are no available data about their use in humans, the report by the EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use says.
Some of the available evidence relates to products that have been used in humans but for the treatment of other viruses, the report points out. It also says that the appropriate dosing of all the products reviewed is uncertain.
The seven products considered by the review, which is ongoing, are: BCX4430 (developed by Biocryst); brincidofovir (Chimerix); favipiravir (Fujifilm Corporation/Toyama);TKM-100802 (Tekmira); AVI-7537 (Sarepta); ZMapp (Leafbio Inc.); Anti-Ebola F(ab’)2 (Fab’entech).
The review does not include Ebola vaccines.
