About This Project

Ebola is now a threat of global significance. Fatalities are a consequence of the human body's overreactive responses to the virus. These responses are largely driven by molecules on cells called integrins. In collaboration with Professor Thomas Geisbert, co-discoverer of Ebola-Reston, we will test the hypothesis that our experimental anti-integrin drug OS2966 improves survival in a primate model of Ebola Virus Disease. If successful, we will pursue clinical trials in patients.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

The current crisis in West Africa is the largest outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in history. Six times more people have died from EVD in the current outbreak than the number of deaths of all prior outbreaks combined. At the launch of OncoSynergy's first Ebola crowdfunding campaign in August 2014 there were approximately 1,500 deaths from EVD. Today, over 10,500 people have died. There are no approved drugs or vaccines for EVD.

Last Fall we demonstrated that OS2966, an experimental drug, can inhibit viral entry and infection in laboratory Ebola models. OS2966 is unique because it targets the host, rather than the virus. This gives our drug multiple modes of action and is less likely to drive drug resistance due to mutation.

What is the significance of this project?

EVD is characterized by rapid death due to failure of multiple organ systems. The scientific community knows it is the human body's overzealous response to Ebola infection, and not the virus itself, ultimately kills patients.

In late stage disease, there is a massive overreactivity of the infected host's immune system (e.g., cytokine storm) as well as disturbances in the clotting pathways (i.e., widespread clotting in small blood vessels). This leads to organ failure, cardiovascular collapse, and death.

We hypothesized drugs that target the host will be a more effective treatment than drugs targeting the virus itself. OS2966 is the first and only experimental Ebola drug that is predicted to directly inhibit the above host mechanisms as well as block viral entry into cells.

What are the goals of the project?

Our team hypothesizes OS2966 improves survival in the gold-standard EVD model by simultaneously inhibiting several host responses to the Ebola virus.

If successful at the end of the project we will have multiple lines of evidence informing us of the effectiveness of OS2966 in EVD. These data will serve as the basis for continuing development of OS2966 and give us a "Go/No Go" for continuing this in clinical trials.