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Ebola patient in Germany treated with novel bio-filtration device
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A novel bio-filtration therapy was used for the first time to treat a patient with Ebola in Germany, according to a press release.
The Hemopurifier device (Aethlon Medical) is designed to remove viruses and immunosuppressive proteins from the bloodstream, the release said. It has been successfully administered to approximately 100 HIV and HCV patients in India, but has yet to see clinical studies in the United States.
The patient, a Ugandan physician and WHO health care worker, contracted the virus in Sierra Leone and is being treated at Frankfurt University Hospital.
“We thank the physicians in Frankfurt for allowing us the opportunity to treat this advanced-stage patient,” James A. Joyce, founder and CEO of Aethlon Medical, said in a press release. “Details related to the patient’s response to therapy will be disclosed once hospital officials deem it appropriate to report an update on the condition of this individual.”
The treatment has previously undergone in vitro validation studies for other Ebola strains conducted at the US Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases and the CDC. If effective in the outbreak strain, it could be deployed for use within dialysis and CRRT infrastructure already present in hospitals worldwide, the press release said.
Aethlon Medical said it is preparing to initiate US clinical studies of the Hemopurifier, which recently received an FDA investigational device exemption.