The drug, called ZMapp, still being tested to treat Ebola-related infection, will enter the fast-track registration process by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), reports AFP.
It is not yet known when it will be approved for use.
ZMapp has been tested in clinical trials since 2014, including in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, where the outbreak occurred. It was also applied to the American doctor Kent Brantly, who contracted Ebola in Liberia, where he was helping patients infected with this virus. He was cured, but it is not certain whether this medicine helped him, as several treatments were used simultaneously.
ZMapp contains three humanized monoclonal antibodies that stimulate the immune system to fight infection. In 2012, experiments on macaques showed that it is surviving if given within an hour of infection. When applied within 24-48 hours of infection, four out of six monkeys survived.
In West Africa, two other antiviral drugs are also being tested in clinical trials. One of them is brincidofovir, which blocks the DNA replication of the microorganism, preventing it from reproducing. The second, favipiravir, had previously been active in combating, among others, influenza virus, Western fever and yellow fever. There is hope that it will be of help in combating Ebola as well.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 2014 thousand people have been infected with Ebola in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since the outbreak of the epidemic in 28,2. people, and almost 11,3 thousand. died. However, the WHO admits that the actual number of infections and deaths is higher because many cases have not been registered. (PAP)