Scientists are trying to produce antibody from Ebola virus disease survivors

The antibody, known as mAb114, was effective even when given five days after exposure to Ebola virus, researchers said. Although several clinical trials are in progress, there are currently no licenced therapies against Ebola virus.

The process was complicated. The team first gathered and analyzed blood test samples from a 1995 Ebola outbreak survivor in Kikwit and identified antibodies in his blood. Some of these were isolated. The scientists gave a lethal dose of Zaire ebola virus to four rhesus macaques, and then treated three of them with the monoclonal antibodies, mAb114, for three days. The fourth monkey was not given any dose.

Antibodies, or proteins produced by the immune system in response to infection, represent one possible approach to treating the disease. Researchers from the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) administered a lethal dose of Zaire ebolavirus to rhesus macaques.

After five days, the team treated three of the animals with daily intravenous injections of mAb114 for three consecutive days. All the treated animals survived and were free of EVD symptoms, while the untreated animal developed clinical signs of the disease.

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