EBOLA: Ethics ctte approves experimental Ebola drug

A national committee on research ethics has approved that the experimental drug ZMapp can be administered to patients with Ebola. It comes on the heels of the World Health Organisation ruling that experimental drugs for Ebola could be administered despite bypassing routine reviews and approvals, if a patient was full aware and gave informed consent. […]

A national committee on research ethics has approved that the experimental drug ZMapp can be administered to patients with Ebola.

It comes on the heels of the World Health Organisation ruling that experimental drugs for Ebola could be administered despite bypassing routine reviews and approvals, if a patient was full aware and gave informed consent.

Rushing ZMapp and other drugs that have not gone through human testing into treatment became pressing in the wake of Ebola virus disease, an international emergency the WHO declared has killed close to 1,000 since March in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

The National Health Research Ethics Committee decided it was “ethical to use these treatments in the current situation without first submitting an application to National, State or Institutional Health Research Ethics Committee for prior review and approval,” according to its chairman Prof Clement Adebamowo.

The committee also waived current requirement that international shipment of any biological samples out of Nigeria should be preceded by the establishment of a Materials Transfer Agreement.

“This waiver is to promote rapid international response to this global emergency,’’ the ethics committee said in a statement after it met in Abuja.

But the committee emphasised all treatments considered innovate but non validated should be carefully and adequately documented.

The documentation is expected to be basis for clinical trials of the efficacy and side effects of the treatment according to established scientific principles.

In the statement, the ethics committee enjoined all agencies, development partners and research scientists to follow the guideline for the rapid resolution of the current emergency.

“The guideline will contribute to preparedness in case of future occurrences and contribution to scientific knowledge.

Clinical trials to assess treatment of Ebola later on will be approved only by the committee.

The committee’s approval paves way for ZMapp to be used on around eight patients currently under isolation treatment for Ebola.

The experimental drug was reportedly administered to two American doctors who contracted the virus in Liberia, both of whom are reported to be responding to treatment .