Field: Medicine › Infectious DiseasesType: An approach that didn't workArea: ebola virus diseaseTarget: Chloroquine as an antiviral against Ebola virusStage: preclinical
Hypothesis
Chloroquine, proposed as a repurposed Ebola treatment, would improve survival in animals infected with Ebola virus.
What failed
Chloroquine treatment did not improve survival in either mouse or hamster models. In vitro it inhibited viral replication only at cytotoxic concentrations.
Broken assumption
In vitro antiviral activity of chloroquine against Ebola reflects a usable therapeutic window in vivo.
Why
The authors conclude that the in vitro activity appears only at concentrations toxic to cells, making chloroquine unpromising and directing effort to other drug classes.
From the published paper: Falzarano et al. Emerging infectious diseases, 2015. ↗CC BY