A South African pharmaceutical company is preparing a major clinical trial for an experimental oral Ebola treatment.
Xylomed Pharmaceuticals plans to conduct the study in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and South Sudan. These countries have faced recurring outbreaks of the highly infectious disease.
The double-blind, randomised clinical trial will assess whether the candidate medicine is safe and effective. Ebola has recorded fatality rates of up to 70% during some outbreaks.