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Amgen, Inc. (AMGN) announced on Saturday that it will team up with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as well as other groups to come up with alternative ways to produce Ebola drug ZMapp, which has proven to be one of the most effective drugs that can be used to fight the deadly Ebola virus.
ZMapp is manufactured by the privately held Mapp Biopharmaceuticals. The drug is made from biologically-engineered tobacco plants of a certain type and the process can typically require four to six months to be completed, making the availability of the drug a major roadblock in the fight against Ebola. Supplies of ZMapp were exhausted in August.
In an effort to explore other alternatives to producing the drug, the Gates Foundation recently gave Mapp Biopharmaceuticals a $150,000 grant to see whether the company will be able to mass produce the drug using more traditional methods of drug production.
To help in these efforts, Amgen spokeswoman Kristen Davis said that Amgen will likely deploy a 12-14 member team which will work to identify if the drug can be made using Chinese hamster ovary cells.
The technique will require far more time than the plant-based production method; however, it will be possible to quickly scale up production because the technique has a well-established infrastructure and these cells are already used to produce a few other Amgen drugs. Rapid production of ZMapp is of utmost importance given the fast pace of the Ebola spread.
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) of the US Department of Health and Human Services said in a separate announcement that it had contacted three advanced labs - established by the US government in 2012 - with $440 million regarding whether an expansion in their manufacturing facilities will be possible. If so, this would allow for additional production of ZMapp using tobacco plants.
The Texas A&M Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing, which is run in partnership with GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR) (GSK), said that it received the BARDA's request and swiftly acted upon the request to put forth a task order. Proposals for the plan, which include information on budgeting and timetables, are due to be submitted to the BARDA on November 10.
The other two labs contacted are a facility run under Emergent BioSolutions' leadership out of Baltimore, Maryland, and another facility based in Holly Springs, North Carolina and led by Swiss-based drug giant Novartis AG (ADR) (NVS).
Adam Havey, president of the biodefense division at Emergent BioSolutions, stated that Emergent has been in talks with various manufacturers in an attempt to develop a response team for the request received. Novartis also acknowledged that the company has received the request. Elizabeth Power, a Novartis spokeswoman, further said that the company is "unable to provide any additional details at this time."
The Texas A&M Center is expected to join forces with Caliber Biotherapeutics LLC, which has a facility for producing drugs in tobacco plants, if it wins the government contract to help ramp up ZMapp's production.
