Interferon β-1a for the treatment of Ebola virus disease: A historically controlled, single-arm proof-of-concept trial

PLoS One. 2017 Feb 22;12(2):e0169255. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169255. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

To date there are no approved antiviral drugs for the treatment of Ebola virus disease (EVD). Based on our in vitro evidence of antiviral activity of interferon (IFN)-ß activity against Ebola virus, we conducted a single arm clinical study in Guinea to evaluate the safety and therapeutic efficacy of IFN β-1a treatment for EVD. Nine individuals infected with Ebola virus were treated with IFN β-1a and compared retrospectively with a matched cohort of 21 infected patients receiving standardized supportive care only during the same time period at the same treatment unit. Cognizant of the limitations of having treated only 9 individuals with EVD, the data collected are cautiously considered. When compared to supportive care only, IFN β-1a treatment seemed to facilitate viral clearance from the blood and appeared associated with earlier resolution of disease symptoms. Survival, calculated from the date of consent for those in the trial and date of admission from those in the control cohort, to the date of death, was 19% for those receiving supportive care only, compared to 67% for those receiving supportive care plus IFN β-1a. Given the differences in baseline blood viremia between the control cohort and the IFN-treated cohort, an additional 17 controls were included for a subset analysis, from other treatment units in Guinea, matched with the IFN-treated patients based on age and baseline blood viremia. Subset analyses using this expanded control cohort suggests that patients without IFN β-1a treatment were ~ 1.5-1.9 fold more likely to die than those treated. Viewed altogether the results suggest a rationale for further clinical evaluation of IFN β-1a.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Antiviral Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Ebolavirus
  • Female
  • Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / drug therapy*
  • Humans
  • Interferon beta-1a / therapeutic use*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Antiviral Agents
  • Interferon beta-1a

Grants and funding

This study was supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Institute of Infection & Immunity) grant to ENF. The funder provided support in the form of salaries for authors [MKK, FAT, MSS, AC, AAB, IK, DM, AB, AAR], but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section. In addition support was provided by The European Mobile Laboratory (EMLab), a technical partner of the WHO Emerging and Dangerous Pathogens Laboratory Network (EDPLN), and the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN). The work of EMLab was carried out in the context of the projects EVIDENT (Ebola virus disease: correlates of protection, determinants of outcome, and clinical management) that received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreements no. 666100, and in the context of service contract IFS/2011/272-372 funded by Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development. Both Agreement no. 666100 and IFS/2011/272-372 funding support had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.