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Clinical trials of three new Ebola treatments are due to start next month in West Africa, Médecins Sans Frontières has announced.
Up to several hundred patients are expected to take part in three separate trials in Guinea and Liberia, the medical charity has said.
The studies, which will involve only Ebola patients rather than placebo groups, will see researchers monitor survival rates and other effects.
The trials however can be stopped early if clear benefits or harm is seen. Initial results could be available by February, the medical charity has said.
Some 5,000 people have been killed in the West Africa Ebola epidemic, with more than 13,000 infected, according to the World Health Organisation.
In pictures: Ebola virus Show all 62 1 /62In pictures: Ebola virus In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A health worker from Sierra Leone's Red Cross Society Burial Team 7 carries the corpse of a child in Freetown
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A health workers from the Sierra Leone's Red Cross Society Burial Team 7 is sprayed with desinfectant after removing a corpse from a house in Freetown
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Health workers from Sierra Leone's Red Cross Society Burial Team 7 prepare to remove a body from a house in Freetown
AFP
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Health workers from the Sierra Leone's Red Cross Society Burial Team 7 place a body in a grave at King Tom cemetary in Freetown
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Mustapha Rogers of the Red Cross talks as health workers from the Sierra Leone's Red Cross Society Burial Team 7 remove a corpse from a house in Freetown
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A citizen from Mali arrives at a hospital in Murcia city, south-eastern Spain. The protocol for a possible case of Ebola has been activated as the man, who arrived from Mali to Jumilla town in Murcia province five days ago, presents clinical symptoms of high fever and vomiting
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In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Kenyan medical workers show how to handle an infected Ebola patient on a portable negative pressure bed at the Kenyatta national hospital in Nairobi
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In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A health worker sprays disinfectant onto a college in Monrovia, Liberia
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In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A burial team in protective gear bury the body of a woman suspected to have died from Ebola virus in Monrovia, Liberia
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Healthcare workers in protective gear work at an Ebola treatment center in the west of Freetown, Sierra Leone
AP Photo/Michael Duff
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A healthcare worker in protective gear is sprayed with disinfectant after working in an Ebola treatment center in the west of Freetown, Sierra Leone
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A member of the NGO U Fondation leaves a house after visiting quarantined family members suffering from the Ebola virus in Monrovia
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus An Ebola sign placed infront of a home in West Point slum area of Monrovia, Liberia
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A Liberian man carries his sick brother suspected of having Ebola after being delayed admission to the Island Clinic Ebola Treatment Unit due to a lack of beds at the clinic on the outskirts of Monrovia, Liberia
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Health workers remove the body a woman who died from the Ebola virus in the Aberdeen district of Freetown, Sierra Leone
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A health worker fixes another health worker's protective suit in the Aberdeen district of Freetown, Sierra Leone
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Health workers spray themselves with chlorine disinfectants after removing the body a woman who died of Ebola virus in the Aberdeen district of Freetown, Sierra Leone
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A woman crawls towards the body of her sister as Ebola burial team members take her sister Mekie Nagbe (28) for cremation in Monrovia, Liberia
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Sophia Doe sits with her grandchildren Beauty Mandi, 9 months (L) and Arthuneh Qunoh, 9, (R), while watching the arrival an Ebola burial team to take away the body of her daughter Mekie Nagbe, 28, for cremation in Monrovia, Liberia
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Varney Jonson (46) grieves as an Ebola burial team takes away the body of his wife Nama Fambule for cremation in Monrovia, Liberia
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Family members grieve as Ebola burial team members prepare to remove the body of Nama Fambule for cremation in Monrovia, Liberia
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A Liberian burial squad carry the body of an Ebola victim in Marshall, Margini county, Liberia
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus An Ebola burial team dresses in protective clothing before collecting the body of a woman (54) from her home in the New Kru Town suburb of Monrovia, Liberia
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus An Ebola burial team carries the body of a woman (54) through the New Kru Town suburb of Monrovia, Liberia
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus An Ebola burial team dresses in protective clothing before collecting the body of a woman (54) from her home in the New Kru Town suburb of Monrovia, Liberia
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Health workers in protective gear carry the body of a woman suspected to have died from Ebola virus, from a house in New Kru Town at the outskirt of Monrovia, Liberia
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Volunteers in protective suit bury the body of a person who died from Ebola in Waterloo, some 30 kilometers southeast of Freetown
FLORIAN PLAUCHEUR/AFP/Getty Images
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Nowa Paye (9) is taken to an ambulance after showing signs of the Ebola infection in the village of Freeman Reserve, about 30 miles north of Monrovia, Liberia
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Medical staff members burn clothes belonging to patients suffering from Ebola, at the French medical NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Monrovia
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In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A medical staff member wearing a protective suit walks past the crematorium where victims of Ebola are burned in Monrovia
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A Liberian burial team wearing protective clothing loads the body of a 60-year-old Ebola victim after retrieving him from his home
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In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Sick women rest while hoping to enter the new Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Ebola treatment center near Monrovia, Liberia
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In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Hanah Siafa walks in the rain with her children Josephine, 10, and Elija, six, while waiting to enter the new Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Ebola treatment center in Monrovia, Liberia
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In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus UNICEF health workers walk through the streets, going house to house to speak about Ebola prevention in New Kru Town, Liberia. The virus has killed more than 1,000 people in four African countries
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In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Local residents watch as public health advocates stage an Ebola awareness and prevention event in Monrovia, Liberia
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In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Public health advocates stage an Ebola awareness and prevention event in Monrovia, Liberia. The Liberian government and international groups are trying to convince residents of the danger and are urging people to wash their hands to help prevent the spread of the epidemic
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In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Hanah Siafa lies with her children Josephine, 10, and Elija, six, while hoping to enter the new Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Ebola treatment center
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In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A health worker examines patients for Ebola inside a screening tent, at the Kenema Government Hospital
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In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A health worker cleans his hands with chlorinated water before entering an Ebola screening tent at the Kenema Government Hospital, about 86 miles from Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown
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In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Aid workers and doctors transfer Miguel Pajares, a Spanish priest who was infected with the Ebola virus while working in Liberia, from a plane to an ambulance as he leaves the Torrejon de Ardoz military airbase, near Madrid, Spain
AP Photo/Spanish Defense Ministry
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A Liberian money exchanger washes hands between customers as a precaution to prevent infection with the deadly Ebola virus while conducting business in downtown Monrovia, Liberia
EPA
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A Liberian health worker sprays disinfectant on a drivers boots to stop the spread of the deadly Ebola virus at the Christian charity Samaritan Purse head offices in Monrovia, Liberia. Over 660 people have died of Ebola in West Africa in 2014 making it the world's deadliest outbreak to date according to statistics from the World Health Organisation
EPA
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A Liberian taxi driver wears protective gloves as a precaution to prevent infection with the deadly Ebola virus whilst driving in downtown Monrovia, Liberia. Many Liberians have taken to wearing gloves and washing hands after every interaction in an attempt to curb the spread of the deadly virus
EPA
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A Liberian money exchanger wears protective gloves as a precaution to prevent infection with the deadly Ebola virus while transacting business with customers in downtown Monrovia, Liberia
EPA
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A woman from Liberia takes food to a sick relative in the Ebola isolation unit at the ELWA Hospital where US doctor Kent Bradley is being quarantined having contracted the Ebola virus. Over 660 people have died of Ebola in West Africa in 2014 making it the world's deadliest outbreak to date according to statistics from the World Health Organisation
EPA
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus The disease has now spread to Liberia and, for the first time, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, killing at least 672 people in 1,201 cases, according to the World Health Organisation’s latest figures
AP
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Health specialists prepare for work in an isolation ward for patients at the Medecins Sans Frontieres facility in southern Guinea
AFP/Getty Images
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A Liberian street vendor wears protective gloves as a precaution to prevent infection with the deadly Ebola virus while transacting business with customers in downtown Monrovia, Liberia
EPA
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A nurse from Liberia sprays preventives to disinfect the waiting area for visitors at the ELWA Hospital where a US doctor Kent Bradley is being quarantined in the hospitals isolation unit having contracted the Ebola virus, Monrovia, Liberia
EPA
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Staff of the 'Doctors without Borders' ('Medecin sans frontieres') medical aid organisation carry the body of a person killed by the virus
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A Liberia man (right) talks to a nurse (left) about the health of his relative who is in the isolation unit of the ELWA Hospital where a US doctor Kent Bradley is being quarantined having contracted the Ebola virus, Monrovia, Liberia
EPA
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A nurse from Liberia walks to spray preventives to disinfect the waiting area for visitors at the ELWA Hospital where a US doctor Kent Bradley is being quarantined in the hospitals isolation unit having contracted the Ebola virus
EPA
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Staff of the Christian charity Samaritan's Purse put on protective gear in the ELWA hospital in the Liberian capital Monrovia
AFP
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Lagos State Health Commissioner Jide Idris, speaks, during a news conference in Lagos, Nigeria. No one knows for sure just how many people Patrick Sawyer came into contact with the day he boarded a flight in Liberia, had a stopover in Ghana, changed planes in Togo, and then arrived in Nigeria, where authorities say he died days later from Ebola
AP Photo/Sunday Alamba
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Staff of the Christian charity Samaritan's Purse put on protective gear in the ELWA hospital in the Liberian capital Monrovia. An American doctor battling West Africa's Ebola epidemic has himself fallen sick with the disease in Liberia, Samaritan's Purse said
AP
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Protective gear including boots, gloves, masks and suits, drying after being used in a treatment room in the ELWA hospital in the Liberian capital Monrovia
AFP
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A Liberian man holding a Civet being sold on a roadside as bush meat in Lofa County. Bush meat is one of the major carriers of the Ebola virus. The Liberian government and International partners have warned people to not eat it. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that a total of 888 Ebola cases including 539 deaths have been recorded in West Africa since February
AFP
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus People unload protection and healthcare material at Conakry's airport, to help fight the spread of the Ebola virus and treat people who have been already infected
AFP/Getty Images
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Body of evidence: health workers transport a casket of a nun whose death resulted from an Ebola infection in Zaire in 1995
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In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Peter Piot in Yambuku, northern Congo (then Zaire), in 1976, where he was part of the original team to discover the Ebola virus
J Breman
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus A member of Doctors Without Borders helps to unload protection and healthcare materials in Guinea
Getty
In pictures: Ebola virus Ebola virus Doctors in protective gear work inside the Medecins Sans Frontieres isolation ward as Guinea faced the worst ever outbreak of the Ebola virus
Getty Images
The trials, which hope to quickly find an effective treatment against the disease, will test the drugs brincidofovir, from the US firm Chimerix, and favipiravir, from Japan's Fujifilm.
The third trial will see how well blood plasma taken from Ebola survivors works in curing those infected.
Researchers have said it may be possible to add new experimental drugs in coming months.
Dr Annick Antierens, who coordinates the investigational partnerships for MSF, said the cooperation involved in conducting the trials was unprecedented and "represents hope for patients to finally get a real treatment".
The trials will each by led by a different team, with the University of Oxford heading up the trial in Liberia while the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research and the Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine each leading one of the two others in Guinea.
The WHO and health authorities of countries affected by the epidemic are also taking part, MSF said.
The charity said the trials had been designed to ensure disruption to patients is minimal and that internationally-accepted ethical standards are respected with the aim that "sound scientific data will be produced and shared for public good".
The charity has also urged drugmakers to scale up production now, to try to ensure there is no gap between the end of the trials and any large-scale introduction of the medicines if they are found to be safe and effective.
"We need to keep in mind that there is no guarantee that these therapies will be the miracle cure," Dr Antierens said. "But we need to do all we can to try the products available today to increase the chances of finding an effective treatment."
Professor Peter Horby, the Chief Investigator of the ISARIC-led trial, said: "Conducting clinical trials of investigational drugs in the midst of a humanitarian crisis is a new experience for all of us, but we are determined not to fail the people of West Africa.
"It has been a privilege to witness the extraordinary willingness of all the partners in this initiative to step outside their comfort zones in order to fast track these critically important trials."
Additional reporting by Reuters
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