In response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, HHS' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response has signed a contract with San Diego-based Mapp Biopharmaceutical for an accelerated drug development and testing program.
Under the initial 18-month, $24.9 million contract, ASPR's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority will provide funding, expertise and technical support for manufacturing, regulatory and nonclinical activities of ZMapp, the experimental Ebola drug that has so far demonstrated favorable results in two American missionary workers and, more recently, a British volunteer nurse working in Sierra Leone. The ultimate goal of the contract is to receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the ZMapp drug.
The HHS authority will also work closely with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency within the Department of Defense and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the National Institutes of Health to help expedite drug development.
"While ZMapp has received a lot of attention, it is one of several treatments under development for Ebola, and we still have very limited data on its safety and efficacy," said Nicole Lurie, MD, assistant secretary for preparedness and response. "Developing drugs and vaccines to protect against Ebola as a biological threat has been a long-term goal of the U.S. government, and today's agreement represents an important step forward."
More articles on Ebola:
American Thoracic Society's journal publishes perspective on caring for Ebola patients
New Ebola drug 100% effective in monkey trial
Are U.S. hospitals prepared for potential Ebola patients? 7 statistics