Ebola Never Went Away. But Now There’s A Drug To Treat It

Claude Mabowa, 21, of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is an Ebola survivor who lost four family members to the virus. He’s sitting in the bedroom of a sister who died of Ebola.

John Wessels / AFP via Getty Images

While scientists work to develop effective treatments for COVID-19, there is good news on another disease front.

This month the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted formal approval to an antibody cocktail from the pharmaceutical company Regeneron that’s been shown to reduce an Ebola patient’s chances of dying dramatically.

The treatment, which has been known as REGN-EB3, is now being marketed under the brand name Inmazeb. (Regeneron is also making another antibody cocktail to treat COVID-19. That medicine got a lot of attention when it was given to President Trump. These antibody cocktails attack the Ebola and SARS-CoV-2 viruses in similar ways – using multiple antibodies to block the replication of the virus — but are completely different medications.)