A major international clinical trial seeking effective treatments for Bundibugyo virus disease (BVD), a rare form of Ebola, has begun in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced the development in a statement on Thursday, raising hopes for better survival rates during the country’s ongoing outbreak.
The Platform Adaptive Randomised Trial for New and Repurposed Filovirus TreatmentS (PARTNERS) started enrolling patients on Thursday. The trial aims to assess whether the monoclonal antibody MBP134 and the antiviral drug remdesivir can reduce deaths among people infected with Bundibugyo virus.
The trial is sponsored by WHO and coordinated by the Institut National pour la Recherche Biomédicale (INRB) in the DRC, the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Belgium, and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is supported by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and other international research, clinical, and humanitarian partners.
Researchers will also evaluate whether combining MBP134 and remdesivir offers greater therapeutic benefits than using either treatment alone.
The trial comes as the DRC grapples with a Bundibugyo virus outbreak that has infected more than 1,400 people, with nearly 210 recoveries and about 440 deaths.
“Although medicines have been developed to treat some forms of Ebola virus disease, there are currently no approved therapies specifically for Bundibugyo virus disease, and no single treatment has proven effective against all Ebola virus species,” the statement said.
The WHO Technical Advisory Group selected MBP134 and remdesivir for evaluation after reviewing laboratory studies, safety data, and lessons from previous Ebola outbreaks.
Trial participants will receive close medical supervision and follow-up for at least 28 days after enrolment. In addition to the investigational medicines, they will receive standard supportive care, including fluids, electrolyte replacement, oxygen therapy, blood pressure management, and pain relief, in line with WHO guidelines.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the trial offers hope for patients and affected communities.
“The PARTNERS trial, established with national authorities and scientific partners in record time, offers real hope that we can deliver concrete results for—and with—the communities at the heart of the outbreak,” he said.
Prof. Amanda Rojek, PARTNERS Trial Operations Lead at the Pandemic Sciences Institute, University of Oxford, noted that one of the major lessons from previous outbreaks is that research must be conducted alongside emergency response efforts.
The adaptive platform design of the trial allows researchers to add and evaluate new treatments as they become available, enabling rapid responses to emerging evidence.
INRB Director-General Prof. Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum said integrating the trial into routine patient care would allow affected people to access promising therapies while generating evidence to improve future outbreak responses. The randomised controlled study is enrolling patients of all ages with confirmed Bundibugyo virus disease.
DRC Minister of Health Dr Samuel Kamba described the launch as a significant milestone for the country’s public health response, expressing confidence that the findings will help identify more effective therapies, save lives, and strengthen global preparedness for future Ebola epidemics.
