By News Desk  @bactiman63

Biotechnology company, Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, announced recently that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved EbangaTM for the treatment of Ebola.

Image/Dr. Frederick Murphy,CDC

Ebanga is now approved for treatment of infection caused by Zaire ebolavirus in adult and pediatric patients (including neonates born to a mother who is RT-PCR positive for Zaire ebolavirus infection).

Ebanga is the only FDA approved, single injection Ebola treatment which is available in a lyophilized form.

Ebanga (ansuvimab-zykl, formerly referred to as mAb114) is a monoclonal antibody isolated from a human survivor of the 1995 Ebola outbreak in Kikwit, a city in the DRC.

Wendy Holman, CEO and co-founder of Ridgeback, said: “I speak on behalf of the entire Ridgeback Bio team when I say thank you to all of the dedicated and thoughtful groups who helped contribute to this historic and important product approval. Ridgeback is grateful to NIAID’s Vaccine Research Center (VRC) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) Institut National pour la Recherche Biomédicale (INRB). Specifically, the brilliance of three individuals needs to be acknowledged — Dr. Nancy Sullivan (VRC), Dr. John Mascola (VRC) and Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum (INRB).

“It was their mission to create a lyophilized single-use Ebola treatment, and in partnership with the team at Ridgeback, that vision became a reality. We would also like to thank FDA leadership and the Ebanga review team at FDA’s Division of Antivirals (DAV) for their focused and thorough review of this product. Finally, the true heroes are the patients and their families who allowed themselves to be carried away from their homes – not knowing if they would ever return – in order to enroll in a randomized controlled trial at the Ebola treatment centers during the 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak in the DRC. Your trust and belief in science, innovation and the people caring for you has transformed Ebola forever. Thanks to you, Ebola is now a treatable disease.”