Bundibugyo Ebola virus outbreak: launch of the EBO-PEP trial to protect high-risk contacts

An international clinical trial

The NGO ALIMA is responsible for the overall coordination of the EBO-PEP trial alongside numerous national and international partners. The principal investigators for the trial are Professor Pauline Byakika-Kibwika of Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) in Uganda, Dr Marie Jaspard of Saint-Antoine Hospital / Inserm in France and Professor Placide Mbala of the National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB) in the DRC. The trial is being conducted by the INRB and the ANRS Emerging infectious diseases (ANRS MIE), an autonomous agency of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm).

The Global Health EDCTP3 partnership supported by the European Commission has granted an initial funding of EUR 3.4 million to EBO-PEP. Africa CDC has pledged USD 1 million in direct financing for EBO-PEP. Its advocacy helped mobilise a further USD 2 million from South Africa and USD 3 million from DRC during the high-level meeting held in Kinshasa on 2 July 2026 between President Félix Tshisekedi and President Cyril Ramaphosa, African Union Champion for Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response. Africa CDC is also contributing to the study’s scientific coordination through Dr Mosoka P. Fallah, working alongside Professor Placide Mbala of INRB, a co-principal investigator, and is providing direct technical support to the field team in Bunia, including trial simulations and the identification of high-risk contacts.

“Prevention is essential to stopping this outbreak and protecting those at highest risk of infection. If successful, the EBO-PEP trial could establish post-exposure prophylaxis as a game-changing approach for preventing Ebola disease among people who have been exposed to the virus. Combined with strong community engagement and effective contact tracing, it could provide an important new way to save lives and help bring outbreaks under control,” says Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

“An Ebola exposure is a moment of fear for a health worker, a family and a community. EBO-PEP gives us a critical opportunity to act before exposure becomes disease. Africa CDC has pledged USD 1 million to the trial. The further USD 5 million committed by DRC and South Africa during the 2 July meeting in Kinshasa between President Félix Tshisekedi and President Cyril Ramaphosa, African Union Champion for Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response, shows what African political leadership can deliver. Our scientists are supporting the study’s coordination and field teams in Bunia. We now call on partners to close the remaining financing gap and prepare for rapid, equitable access if obeldesivir proves safe and effective. Those carrying the greatest risk must be among the first to benefit,” said H.E. Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General of Africa CDC.

“The EBO-PEP project arose from observations that Marie Jaspard and I made in the field, where we noted that certain treatments used to treat patients suffering from a filovirus disease might perhaps be used in exposed individuals – namely family members and health personnel in contact with infected people – to prevent the development of the disease,” explains Professor Placide Mbala, a virologist at the INRB and co-principal investigator of the trial.

“The EBO-PEP project aims to evaluate therapeutic strategies that can prevent people in close contact with a filovirus, such as the Bundibugyo Ebola virus, from becoming infected via a close contact – for example, a patient or a carer. If the evaluation proves successful, this strategy would help prevent further infections during an outbreak,” says Doctor Marie Jaspard, an infectious disease specialist in the Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at Saint-Antoine Hospital, a researcher at Inserm and co-principal investigator of the trial.

“In the absence of a vaccine against Bundibugyo Ebola Virus, effective outbreak response requires more than treatment of diseased patients. Protection of exposed individuals at high risk of developing disease, such as health workers, is crucial to stopping transmission and ending the outbreak. EBO-PEP is designed to generate the evidence for post exposure prophylaxis. Through collaboration between African and international partners, we are building the scientific knowledge and preparedness to respond more effectively to future outbreaks,” says Professor Pauline Byakika-Kibwika, an epidemiologist at Mbarara University of Science and Technology and co-principal investigator.

“EBO-PEP fills a major gap in the response to filovirus diseases. Beyond vaccines and curative treatments, it is essential to evaluate a post-exposure prophylaxis strategy to protect those most at risk and better anticipate future outbreaks,” emphasises Professor Yazdan Yazdanpanah, Director of ANRS MIE, co-sponsor of the EBO-PEP trial.

“Clinical research is essential for improving medical care, but it remains underdeveloped on the African continent. As an emergency medical organisation on the front line of outbreaks, we know just how vital it is to innovate. EBO-PEP illustrates the importance of an integrated response combining research and humanitarian action on the ground. ALIMA is committed to the coordination and operational implementation of this trial, under challenging conditions, alongside national and international teams and partners, in order to contribute to concrete progress in preventing future similar epidemics, but also to help localise research efforts ”, adds Doctor Moumouni Kinda, Director-General of ALIMA, the organisation coordinating the EBO-PEP trial.