The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded Mapp Biopharmaceuticals a $25 million contract to produce more doses and perform additional tests for the experimental drug Zmapp to cure Ebola.
Recently, researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine reported that ZMapp can be an effective treatment against the Ebola virus after 100 percent of the monkeys in their experiment showed improvement.
Earlier this month, about 10 to 12 doses of ZMapp were transported to Liberia. With so few doses available to them, Liberian health authorities were left to decide who among the 1,848 known Ebola patients would receive the treatment. The doses were given to the charity aid workers.
The U.S. government decided to act and allocated $25 million to address the supply issue. The manufacturer agreed with the 18-month contract to develop a new batch of the drug that will be used for clinical studies. According to the HHS, the contract will help the company finish their clinical trials and present the results to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval and distribution.
Robin Robinson, Mapp Pharmaceuticals' director of Biomedical Advanced Research and Development, told the Wall Street Journal that aside from creating a new batch of the drug, the company is also preparing for a Phase 1 trial for humans towards the end of the year.
The U.S. department is also studying how and when it will transport Zmapp to the affected areas of the outbreak. The drug will be distributed to the risk areas once Phase 1 is completed.
Christian mission group SIM USA said Tuesday that one of its doctors working in Monrovia, Liberia, has contracted the deadly disease. He was quarantined and seemed to be recovering but has not been treated yet with the drug. According to sources of the Wall Street Journal, seven people had already received doses of Zmapp before it ran out.
Zmapp is made using three kinds of monoclonal antibodies that works by capturing and neutralizing the Ebola virus.
