PHILADELPHIA – An experimental dialysis device safely and dramatically reduced the viral load in a critically ill Ebola patient treated in Frankfurt, Germany.
Dialysis performed using the device resulted in a reduction in viral load from 400,000 copies/mL to 1,000 copies/mL in the 36-year-old patient, said Dr. Helmut Geiger, chief of nephrology at Frankfurt University Hospital, at Kidney Week 2014.
The patient, a pediatrician who had treated Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, was diagnosed in September. He was transferred in October to Frankfurt University Hospital, where he presented with fever, chills, and weakness, and rapidly deteriorated. He developed multiorgan failure – including kidney failure – despite treatment with various experimental therapies.
The patient was placed on dialysis. The experimental device – the Hemopurifier, made by Aethlon Medical of San Diego – was incorporated into the treatment, with special approval from Germany’s Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices, Dr. Geiger said at the meeting, which was sponsored by the American Society of Nephrology.
The Hemopurifier is a first-in-class biofiltration device designed to eliminate viruses and immunosuppressive proteins from the circulatory system of infected individuals, according to Aethlon. The company has been testing the device in patients with hepatitis C and in HIV patients in India. Aethlon plans to initiate U.S. clinical studies under an investigational device exemption approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Successful in vitro validation studies have been conducted by researchers at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Hemopurifier is a cylindrical cartridge that attaches to an existing dialysis machine. Inside, a gluelike protein selectively binds to viral particles and fragments, removing them from blood circulation.
The patient treated in Frankfurt by Dr. Geiger and his team underwent a 6.5-hour dialysis procedure using the device, and an analysis performed at a laboratory equipped to handle Ebola virus showed that the device had trapped 242 million copies of the virus, Dr. Geiger said.
The patient is now out of isolation, off dialysis, and in very good condition, he said, noting that the patient would be discharged within days.
Although additional study is needed, it appears that the Hemopurifier device may have contributed to the patient’s recovery, Dr. Geiger said, and no adverse events occurred during the treatment. The device ultimately could play a role in treating multiple types of viral infection, he added.
Use of the Hemopurifier is safe and feasible, the device can be used with intermittent hemodialysis or in the setting of continuous renal replacement therapy, and it represents a promising new supportive tool for severe Ebola infection, he concluded.
Dr. Geiger reported having consultancy agreements with AbbVie, Amgen, and Otsuka, and receiving research funding from Fresenius Medical Care.