Emerging targets and novel approaches to Ebola virus prophylaxis and treatment.

This article discusses literally a couple dozen vaccines and drugs that are in development for Ebola.  How is their testing being fast-tracked ?

 2013 Dec;27(6):565-83. doi: 10.1007/s40259-013-0046-1.
Choi JH1, Croyle MA.

Abstract

Ebola is a highly virulent pathogen causing severe hemorrhagic fever with a high case fatality rate in humans and non-human primates (NHPs). Although safe and effective vaccines or other medicinal agents to block Ebola infection are currently unavailable, a significant effort has been put forth to identify several promising candidates for the treatment and prevention of Ebola hemorrhagic fever. Among these, recombinant adenovirus-based vectors have been identified as potent vaccine candidates, with some affording both pre- and post-exposure protection from the virus. Recently, Investigational New Drug (IND) applications have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and phase I clinical trials have been initiated for two small-molecule therapeutics: anti-sense phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers (PMOs: AVI-6002, AVI-6003) and lipid nanoparticle/small interfering RNA (LNP/siRNA: TKM-Ebola). These potential alternatives to vector-based vaccines require multiple doses to achieve therapeutic efficacy, which is not ideal with regard to patient compliance and outbreak scenarios. These concerns have fueled a quest for even better vaccination and treatment strategies. Here, we summarize recent advances in vaccines or post-exposure therapeutics for prevention of Ebola hemorrhagic fever. The utility of novel pharmaceutical approaches to refine and overcome barriers associated with the most promising therapeutic platforms are also discussed.

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