A drug named TKM Ebola has proved effective in primates who had been infected, reports Time.
Developers for TKM Ebola at the University of Texas Medical Branch claim it was effective on all monkeys it was administered to, even the ones with a deadly dose of Ebola. The animals not administered the drug all died by day nine, reports Time.
The drug uses parts of the Ebola virus' genome in fatty particles which bind in fragments to matching counterparts on the circulating virus to prevent Ebola from copying itself and infecting further cells, according to the report.
"With this [gene sequencing] technology, we could theoretically turn around a new treatment in something like weeks. This outbreak taught us a lot about how to prepare for the future," Thomas Gesibert, PhD, lead developer for TKM Ebola, to Time. His team was able to adjust the drug according to specific origins of the virus.
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