Ebola virus particlesFLICKR, NIAIDGaithersburg, Maryland–based Emergent BioSolutions will continue to develop its experimental monoclonal antibody therapy for Ebola, thanks to a two-year, $19.7 million task order issued this week (July 20) by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The work will take place at the Baltimore Bayview Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing (CIADM), one of three facilities established as public-private partnerships under the HHS’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).
“Preventing, detecting and treating Ebola infections remain critical not only for the current epidemic in West Africa but also to minimize the impacts of future outbreaks,” HHS Director Robin Robinson said in a press release. “The development of this experimental drug represents significant progress in making Ebola therapeutics available.”
Emergent’s therapy includes the same three monoclonal antibodies as ZMapp, the Ebola drug from Mapp Biopharmaceuticals of San Diego that was used to successfully treat two American aid workers and will soon be tested in a small trial in Liberia. But while ZMapp is produced in tobacco plants, Emergent’s therapy is produced with mammalian cells, which can produce larger quantities of the antibodies more quickly for future clinical studies and, if the drug proves successful, stockpiles.
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