Undertaken at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), the proof-of-concept study was focused on assessing the effect of BCX4430 treatment on survival through day 41 in animals infected with Ebola virus.
During trials, dosing of placebo or BCX4430 by intramuscular injection began 30 to 120 minutes after virus challenge and continued twice a day (BID) for 14 days.
The monkeys were dosed with either 16 mg/kg or 25 mg/kg of BCX4430 or the placebo, and ten of 12 BCX4430 treated animals survived at 41st day.
Preliminary evaluation of the quantity of virus in the blood showed an approximate three-log reduction in Ebola virus RNA copies/mL of plasma, compared with control animals.
BioCryst chief medical officer Dr William Sheridan said: "These results provide important evidence of BCX4430’s potential as a treatment for Ebola virus disease.
"We look forward to completing the ongoing Phase 1 clinical safety trial of BCX4430 in healthy volunteers and working with our U.S. Government partners in continuing the nonclinical and clinical development of this potential antiviral medical countermeasure."
Being developed in collaboration with US government agencies, BCX4430 is an RNA dependent-RNA polymerase inhibitor having displayed broad-spectrum activity in vitro against more than 20 RNA viruses in nine different families, including filoviruses, togaviruses, bunyaviruses, arenaviruses, paramyxoviruses, coronaviruses and flaviviruses.
The project is being funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a part of the National Institutes of Health.