Evaluating Ebola Therapies — The Case for RCTs

Properly designed randomized controlled trials of investigational Ebola drugs, with a control group receiving the best available supportive care, are critical to identifying urgently needed treatments for responding to the ongoing Ebola crisis and any future outbreaks. The worst Ebola epidemic in history is ongoing. With the number of deaths from Ebola virus disease (EVD) already in the thousands and predicted to rise to tens of thousands, 1 the situation is tragic. No treatments have yet been shown to be safe and effective in patients with EVD. Some candidate therapies have shown benefit in animal models of infection, and others have shown activity against certain Ebola strains in cell culture, but concerns have been raised about possible toxicity of some of these agents. There is an urgent need to identify therapies that are effective and safe, and well-designed . . .