Divine Timing? Meet the Company That Developed the Serum Given to Ebola Missionary Doctor and Nurse

Teresa Neumann : Aug 6, 2014
Bradley J. Fikes and Gary Robbins – UT San Diego

For decades, scientists thought no antibodies were effective against the Ebola virus, but in 2012, research from the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases showed that a mix of antibodies can stop the virus.

(San Diego, CA)—Mapp Biopharmaceutical is a tiny company in San Diego that, in collaboration with Canadian firms LeafBio and Defyrus, Inc., created the experimental Ebola drug given to Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol. (Photo via Samaritan's Purse)

Called Zmapp, the three companies say the drug was first identified in January of this year. According to Mapp's website, the Ebola drug is "a cocktail" of monoclonal antibodies which had previously been tested on monkeys.

In a joint statement, the companies said, "As such, very little of the drug is currently available. Any decision to use an experimental drug in a patient would be a decision made by the treating physician under the regulatory guidelines of the FDA. Mapp and its partners are cooperation with appropriate government agencies to increase production as quickly as possible."

Literally days before Dr. Brantly and Writebol were stricken with Ebola, Mapp published a news release announcing an exclusive, worldwide license to their drug. "This license," said Jeffrey Turner, President and CEO of Defyrus, "places our ZMAb technology in the hands of experienced antibody manufacturers with specific regulatory expertise and funding. We share a joint vision with LeafBio to deliver an effective treatment for Ebola virus infection on a cost effective basis globally."

According to a press release earlier this year, in March, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded a five-year grant of up to $28 million to establish a new center for excellence to find the drug.

Erica Ollmann Saphire, a professor at Scripps Research Institute was quoted as saying the efforts are "a global collaboration."

For decades, the press release noted, scientists thought no antibodies were effective against the Ebola virus, but in 2012, research from the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases showed that a mix of antibodies can stop the virus. Other labs around the world were simultaneously testing other such antibody cocktails with success.

Antibodies are currently thought to be the best strategy for treating rare and deadly viruses such as Ebola because they are effective even a couple of days after exposure, a time period during which a person could be airlifted to a hospital for treatment.