First we heard that there was only one dose and Brantly insisted Writebol get it.
Then we find out Brantly got a dose too but that was the last one.
Then we hear it’s being given to the Spanish priest, but that’s the last one.
Then the African presidents beg for it.
And amazingly enough we find a dozen or so more doses of it for them.
If I were to put on tinfoil I’d suspect the last dose was the one Brantly got. Everyone after that has died.
In animal studies, the antibody drugs worked best when given soon after infection, within a day or two. The antibody drug when combined with another drug (a recombinant immune system protein) was effective up to three days after infection.
That means that the drug has to be given before symptoms appear or when they are still mild, to have the most effect.
Although results from animals cannot be extrapolated directly to humans, I would say that the window of opportunity for everyone who has received the drug was long past by the time they got it. I am not surprised that two of the patients who received it died—they were well into the symptomatic phase of the disease when they got it, well past the stage where it has been shown effective in animal studies.
Almost every drug tested for Ebola has the weakness that it must be given before the virus has a chance to establish. And even if there were a good candidate, there is still the slight problem that it cannot be tested in humans in phase 3 efficacy trials. No one will ever volunteer to be infected with Ebola for efficacy trials, and it is unlikely a review board would ever approve such a study.
Except for the 30% or so that survive. The drug might help marginally in some cases where the patient was probably going to live anyway. I suspect the key factor in the survivers is some sort of immunization. They first caught some less lethal form or dose of the virus, then their immune system was able to fight off the lethal dose.