NAPSR News: Federal Officials Look to Increase ZMapp Production to Combat Ebola Outbreak

WASHINGTON - Oct. 2, 2014 - PRLog -- With the worst Ebola outbreak in history, the virus continues to spread and now there's a confirmed case in the United States. It’s no surprise the experimental ZMapp cocktail has been at the center of discussion as the number one treatment option. The promising Zmapp serum was used to treat two US patients who contracted Ebola in Africa a few months ago.  ZMapp was developed by Mapp Biopharmaceutical, Inc. and LeafBio in San Diego, Calif. and Defyrus Inc., another drug company in Toronto, Canada, with funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Public Health Agency of Canada and is a combination of three different monoclonal antibodies that bind to the protein of the Ebola virus. Due to limited supply, Mapp Biopharmaceutical has resumed production but is said to only can produce a limited supply of treatment courses by the end of the year. Dr. Jeffrey D. Turner, president and CEO of Defyrus told CBS News, "The challenge that many people don't appreciate is that our plans were to scale up this drug for 2015 and even then, small amounts for clinical trials. What's really happened with this outbreak is it's caught us in a position where we didn't have enough ZMapp available because no one would have bought it."

Based on the demand, the Department of Homeland Security is looking to increase production of the ZMapp serum and is said to be in talks with Texas based, Caliber Therapeutics  a small biotechnology company that can produce antibodies in tobacco plants by “ infecting tobacco with a genetically engineered virus that contains the instructions to make the antibody:” according to the New York Times. Charities such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (http://www.gatesfoundation.org/) and the Wellcome Trust (http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/) are also exploring options to produce ZMapp in animal cells.

According to the World Health organization the Ebola virus has infected over 6500 people with more than 3000 deaths spanning Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leonne. There are currently no FDA approved vaccines for Ebola, and the global initiative to combat this virus includes the NIH (National Institutes of Health) instituting clinical trials on a potential GSK vaccine for the virus. Tekmira Pharmaceuticals has also developed RNAi based investigational therapeutic which will undergo clinical studies in West Africa.

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Individuals that are interested in becoming a Certified National Pharmaceutical Representative (CNPR) can contact the National Association of Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives(NAPSRx) for more information or visit the website at http://napsronline.org/.