October 20, 2014
By Krystle Vermes, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
California-based biopharmaceutical company Amgen Inc. announced today that it will work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to come up with an alternative production method for experimental Ebola drug ZMapp, originally produced by Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc. The company ran out of ZMapp in August.
Mapp Biopharmaceutical creates the drug through the use of tobacco plants, which can be used to grow three antibodies. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given Mapp Biopharmaceutical a $150,000 grant to see if it’s possible to move forward with large scale production of the drug, using traditional methods. Amgen will dedicate 12 to 14 staff members to determine if the drug can be created in the ovary cells of Chinese hamsters, according to Bloomberg.
Intervention from the Government
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistance Secretary of Preparedness and Response announced that it had granted a contract to accelerate the development of ZMapp on Sept. 2. The department’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority will also provide funding and access to subject matter expertise.
The 18-month contract, worth $24.9 million, is in conjunction with Mapp Biopharmaceutical. The government group could extend the contract up to a total of $42.3 million.
“While ZMapp has received a lot of attention, it is one of several treatments under development for Ebola, and we still have very limited data on its safety and efficacy,” said Nicole Lurie, assistant secretary for preparedness and response. “Developing drugs and vaccines to protect against Ebola as a biological threat has been a long-term goal of the U.S. government, and today’s agreement represents an important step forward.”
The monoclonal antibodies in ZMapp bind certain virus proteins and neutralize the virus, which decreases the amount of virus within the body. In turn, the body’s immune system has a greater chance of fighting it off.
The government is still seeking additional proposals for the development of antibody treatments for Ebola and Marburg viruses, which are responsible for causing hemorrhagic fever. ZMapp has been available in limited quantities thus far, but it has been shown to reduce mortality in mice and nonhuman primates that were exposed to Ebola.
Part of the contract between the department and Mapp Biopharmaceutical is to push ZMapp toward U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval.
