WHO urges drug companies, regulators to speed Ebola work

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WHO urges drug companies, regulators to speed Ebola work

<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/urges-drug-companies-regulators-speed-ebola-151907723--finance.html"><img src="http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/rl3GLWSTvZYDVPof53hE1g--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9NzU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/Reuters/2014-09-04T151907Z_1_LYNXMPEA830QU_RTROPTP_2_HEALTH-EBOLA-DRUGS.JPG" width="130" height="86" alt="A document is pictured at the opening of a consultation of international experts on potential Ebola therapies and vaccines in Geneva" align="left" title="A document is pictured at the opening of a consultation of international experts on potential Ebola therapies and vaccines in Geneva" border="0" /></a>By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) called on Thursday for pharmaceutical companies and regulatory agencies to work together to accelerate development of safe and efficient drugs and vaccines against Ebola. They include the antibody drug ZMapp made by U.S.-based Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc., which has been given to several Ebola patients for &quot;compassionate care&quot; but whose clinical effectiveness is &quot;still uncertain&quot;, it said. &quot;Efforts to scale up production (of ZMapp) may yield increased supplies of potentially a few hundred doses by the end of 2014.&quot; Evidence of the effectiveness of the medicines and vaccines is &quot;suggestive but not based on solid scientific data from clinical trials,&quot; the WHO said. &quot;Accelerating the development of experimental/not approved Ebola Virus Disease therapies and vaccines require a concerted effort by product developers and regulatory agencies, in cooperation with the WHO,&quot; the WHO paper said.</p><br clear="all"/>

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