Medical centers in Guinea and Liberia run by Doctors Without Borders will begin clinical trials of three potential Ebola treatments in December.
The trials will test Durham, N.C.-based Chimerix's brincidofovir, Japan-based Fujifilm's favipiravir and the efficacy of taking blood plasma from Ebola survivors to cure those who are still infected.
Three different research partners will lead each trial. The University of Oxford will lead the brincidofovir trial in Liberia, the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research will oversee Fujifilm's drug in Guinea, and the Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine will lead the blood and plasma therapy trial in Guinea.
Results from the trials could be made available by February 2015, according to a Doctors Without Borders statement.
"This is an unprecedented international partnership which represents hope for patients to finally get a real treatment against a disease that today kills between 50 and 80 percent of those infected," said Annick Antierens, MD, who coordinates investigational partnerships for Doctors Without Borders. "As one of the principal providers of medical care to Ebola patients in West Africa, [Doctors Without Borders] is taking part in these accelerated clinical trials to give people affected by the current outbreak a better chance of survival."
Several hundred patients will participate in the clinical trials. There will be no placebo groups, and only patients who give informed consent will be involved, according to a Reuters report.
If a treatment demonstrates either clear benefits or harm, the trials can be stopped early, according to the report. Additionally, if new drugs become ready for testing in the near months, they could be added to the trials.
All three treatments in the trial have been endorsed by the World Health Organization.
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