History
Early development
The 2014 Ebola outbreak killed more than 11,300 people. Regeneron used its VelociGene, VelocImmune and VelociMab antibody discovery and production technologies and coordinated with the U.S. governments Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). The therapy was developed in six months and a Phase 1 trial in healthy humans was completed in 2015. PALM trial
During the 2018 Équateur province Ebola outbreak, a similar monoclonal antibody treatment, mAb114, was requested by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Ministry of Public Health. mAb114 was approved for compassionate use by the World Health Organization MEURI ethical protocol and at DRC ethics board. mAb114 was sent along with other therapeutic agents to the outbreak sites. However, the outbreak came to a conclusion before any therapeutic agents were given to patients.Approximately one month following the conclusion of the Équateur province outbreak, a distinct outbreak was noted in Kivu in the DRC (2018–20 Kivu Ebola outbreak). Once again, mAb114 received approval for compassionate use by WHO MEURI and DRC ethic boards and has been given to many patients under these protocols. In November 2018, the Pamoja Tulinde Maisha (PALM [together save lives]) open-label randomized clinical control trial was begun at multiple treatment units testing mAb114, REGN-EB3 and remdesivir to ZMapp. Despite the difficulty of running a clinical trial in a conflict zone, investigators have enrolled 681 patients towards their goal of 725.
This is the second largest outbreak with (as of January 2020) over 3,400 confirmed or probable cases, including more than 2,200 who have died.An interim analysis by the Data Safety and Monitoring Board (DSMB) of the first 499 patient found that mAb114 and REGN-EB3 were superior to the comparator ZMapp. Overall mortality of patients in the ZMapp and Remdesivir groups were 49% and 53% compared to 34% and 29% for mAb114 and REGN-EB3. When looking at patients who arrived early after disease symptoms appeared, survival was 89% for mAB114 and 94% for REGN-EB3. While the study was not powered to determine whether there is any difference between REGN-EB3 and mAb114, the survival difference between those two therapies and ZMapp was significant. This led to the DSMB halting the study and PALM investigators dropping the remdesivir and ZMapp arms from the clinical trial. All patients in the outbreak who elect to participate in the trial will now be given either mAb114 or REGN-EB3.In August 2019, Congolese health officials announced it was more effective compared to two other treatments being used at the time.Among patients treated with it, 34% died; the mortality rate improved if the drug was administered soon after infection, in a timely diagnosis – critical for those infected with diseases like Ebola that can cause sepsis and, eventually, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, more quickly than other diseases. The survival rate if the drug was administered shortly after the infection was 89%.