Regeneron's Ebola Therapy Shows Promise, Medical Officials Say

TARRYTOWN, NY — Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., which is headquartered in Tarrytown, announced Monday that its trial therapy for Ebola was ended early because it proved superior to rival treatments, according to a press release from the company.

Regeneron said it was informed by study investigators that the randomized, controlled trial of four therapies for Ebola virus infection was stopped because REGN-EB3, which Regeneron invented, worked better than ZMapp, which served as the control for the trial as it was considered standard-of-care by a previous clinical trial.

The trial was conducted in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the current outbreak is ongoing.

"We are moved to know our therapy is helping save the lives of people facing this deadly infectious disease," said Neil Stahl, Ph.D., executive vice president of research and development at Regeneron.

"We look forward to reviewing the trial data and are working with governments and other collaborators … to make REGN-EB3 available for the current outbreak and future use," he said.

A second drug also proved effective, according to Nature, the international journal of science.

Both REGN-EB3 and the other drug — mAB114, developed by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases — will be made available to anyone infected with the virus in the DRC.

Because of the drugs' effectiveness, officials said that they will be able to say that more than 90 percent of people will survive if they come in early and get the treatment.

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