Aethlon Medical Inc. said Friday it received a $3.3 million investment to help fund clinical trials of its Hemopurifier, a blood-filtration system that has been used to treat Ebola.
The device is designed to rapidly eliminate viruses and dangerous proteins from the blood system of infected individuals. It is designed for treatment of HIV and Hepatitis C, in addition to Ebola.
Doctors in Germany used the Hemopurifier to treat a Ugandan physician who was unconscious and suffering from multiple organ failure due to Ebola. The patient’s viral load prior to a 6.5-hour treatment was measured 400,000 virus copies per milliliter of blood and afterward was measured at 1,000 copies per millimeter. The patient recovered.
The Hemopurifier is available to treat Ebola patients through the Food and Drug Administration‘s “emergency use” provisions to address life threatening circumstances. Clinical trials of the device are expected to begin soon, according to the company.
