Oral administration of obeldesivir protects nonhuman primates against Sudan ebolavirus. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38484056/)

These scientists wanted to find out if a new medicine called Obeldesivir (ODV) could help treat dangerous viruses like Ebola and Marburg. They did experiments in the lab to see how well ODV worked against these viruses. They found that ODV was effective in stopping the viruses from spreading.

Next, the scientists tested ODV on monkeys that were exposed to one of these viruses. They gave the monkeys ODV once a day for 10 days after they were exposed to the virus. The results showed that all the monkeys that received ODV were protected from getting sick.

The scientists also looked at the genes in the monkeys' cells to see how ODV was helping them fight the virus. They found that ODV helped to delay the body's inflammatory response and activate important immune cells that fight off the virus.

Overall, the scientists discovered that ODV could be a promising treatment for these deadly viruses and could help stop outbreaks more quickly in the future.

Cross RW., Woolsey C., Chu VC., Babusis D., Bannister R., Vermillion MS., Geleziunas R., Barrett KT., Bunyan E., Nguyen AQ., Cihlar T., Porter DP., Prasad AN., Deer DJ., Borisevich V., Agans KN., Martinez J., Harrison MB., Dobias NS., Fenton KA., Bilello JP., Geisbert TW. Oral administration of obeldesivir protects nonhuman primates against Sudan ebolavirus. Science. 2024 Mar 15;383(6688):eadk6176. doi: 10.1126/science.adk6176. Epub 2024 Mar 15.