BOSTON — A tiny study may suggest that the experimental Ebola treatment ZMapp sharply increases the chance of surviving the virus.
The study included only 72 patients, less than half the 200 originally planned, because the Ebola epidemic was declared over in January. Researchers testing the experimental combination drug, developed by Mapp Biopharmaceuticals, cut off enrolment when the epidemic ended.
The outbreak raged in several western African countries for two years, killing more than 11,000 people.
The study, released late Tuesday at a medical conference, found that 22 per cent of participants given ZMapp died, compared with 37 per cent of participants receiving standard treatments. Because so few people were tested, the results could have occurred by chance.
Mapp plans to continue testing and eventually seek approval to put the drug on the market.
