Antiviral efficacy of favipiravir against Ebola virus: A translational study in cynomolgus macaques

by J érémie Guedj, Géraldine Piorkowski, Frédéric Jacquot, Vincent Madelain, Thi Huyen Tram Nguyen, Anne Rodallec, Stephan Gunther, Caroline Carbonnelle, France Mentré, Hervé Raoul, Xavier de Lamballerie BackgroundDespite repeated outbreaks, in particular the devastating 2014 –2016 epidemic, there is no effective treatment validated for patients with Ebola virus disease (EVD). Among the drug candidates is the broad-spectrum polymerase inhibitor favipiravir, which showed a good tolerance profile in patients with EVD (JIKI trial) but did not demonstrate a strong antivira l efficacy. In order to gain new insights into the antiviral efficacy of favipiravir and improve preparedness and public health management of future outbreaks, we assess the efficacy achieved by ascending doses of favipiravir in Ebola-virus-infected nonhuman primates (NHPs). Methods and findingsA total of 26 animals (Macaca fascicularis) were challenged intramuscularly at day 0 with 1,000 focus-forming units of Ebola virus Gabon 2001 strain and followed for 21 days (study termination). This included 13 animals left untreated and 13 treated with doses of 100, 150, and 180 mg/kg (N = 3, 5, and 5, respectively) favipiravir administered intravenously twice a day for 14 days, starting 2 days before infection. All animals left untreated or treated with 100 mg/kg died within 10 days post-infection, while animals receiving 150 and 180 mg/kg had extended survival (P
Source: PLoS Medicine - Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Source Type: research