Synthetic nucleotides halt replication of the viruses in tests on monkeys. The FDA approves clinical trials in primates. ‘Any disorder that involves a genetic problem can potentially be treated,’ one expert says.
Synthetic nucleotides injected into monkeys can block the replication of Ebola and Marburg viruses, suggesting it eventually may be possible to protect humans against these deadly bioterrorism agents, researchers said Sunday.
The monkeys get very sick, but most of them survive. The agents, called morpholino oligomers, are the first drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration to go into clinical trials against the viruses — although those trials will, at least initially, be conducted in primates, not humans.
The results are “a potentially important proof of concept but still a long way from a product that can be used with confidence against human infections,” said virologist Alan L. Schmaljohn of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, who was not involved in the research. Read more…
