--- title: Ebola: WHO Outlines Timeline for Experimental Drugs description: The World Health Organization provides more guidance on experimental drug testing and distribution for Ebola canonical: https://time.com/3274636/who-timeline-ebola-drugs/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-05T18:49:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T10:02:13.567Z article:section: Health og:title: WHO Outlines Timeline for Experimental Ebola Drugs og:description: The World Health Organization provides more guidance on experimental drug testing and distribution for Ebola og:url: https://time.com/3274636/who-timeline-ebola-drugs/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: WHO Outlines Timeline for Experimental Ebola Drugs twitter:description: The World Health Organization provides more guidance on experimental drug testing and distribution for Ebola twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # WHO Outlines Timeline for Experimental Ebola Drugs > Sponsored content. 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Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Sep 5, 2014 6:49 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Sep 5, 2014 6:49 PM UTC A committee of more than 150 experts, from scientists to ethicists, have outlined a timeline for testing and using experimental drugs during the Ebola outbreak. There are currently no approved drugs or vaccines for human use, though several are in early testing. In a press conference today, WHO announced consensus among its committee over the use of whole blood therapies and convalescent blood serums, saying that they deserve priority based on evidence showing they may work for treating Ebola. Vaccine studies are beginning this month in the U.S., and WHO announced that trials will start in Africa and Europe in mid-September. “WHO will work with all the relevant stakeholders to accelerate their development and safe use in affected countries. If proven safe, a vaccine could be available in November 2014 for priority use in health-care workers,” WHO said in a statement sent to reporters. Given how quickly and exponentially the Ebola outbreak has spread in West Africa, researchers have started to expedite the process of testing and developing their drugs. In early August, the World Health Organization (WHO) [endorsed the use of experimental drugs](http://time.com/3103223/world-health-organization-ebola-africa/) during the outbreak, but said that protocols–like the ones set today–were needed. The National Institutes of Health [announced](http://time.com/3206072/ebola-vaccine-human-trials/) at the end of last month that it’s beginning trials of promising Ebola vaccines, and two American patients with Ebola were given an experimental drug called ZMapp. Though both of the patients survived, it’s impossible to tell whether the drug was solely responsible. Other people given the drug have not survived. During the press conference, Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO’s assistant director-general for health systems and innovation, said there’s not enough evidence yet to know whether ZMapp really works, and Dr. Samba Sow, director general of the Center for Vaccine Development in Mali, discussed a vaccine trial starting in Mali. (Mali doesn’t have any Ebola patients yet, but its neighboring countries do.) WHO said the panel did discuss the potential of novel drugs and therapies–some of which have shown promise in monkeys–but that they could not make any conclusions on their efficacy just yet. The new recommendations give countries a bit more guidance when it comes to choosing therapies and offer some hope in the midst of a disease outbreak with devastating outcomes. As [TIME previously reported](http://time.com/3104174/who-gets-the-experimental-ebola-drugs/), countries will have to determine for themselves, with WHO guidance, who will actually receive experimental treatments should they choose to pursue them. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3274636/who-timeline-ebola-drugs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3274636/who-timeline-ebola-drugs/"},"headline":"WHO Outlines Timeline for Experimental Ebola Drugs","datePublished":"2014-09-05T18:49:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:02:13.567Z","description":"The World Health Organization provides more guidance on experimental drug testing and distribution for Ebola","url":"https://time.com/3274636/who-timeline-ebola-drugs/","keywords":["Infectious Disease","World Health Organization","ebola"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-disease/","name":"Infectious Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3274636/who-timeline-ebola-drugs/","name":"WHO Outlines Timeline for Experimental Ebola Drugs"}}]}] ```