Ag47
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User ID: 62302635
 United States
08/30/2014 12:11 AM
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Report Copyright Violation | NY Times: Study Says ZMapp Works Against Ebola Guess it's time to start with the big tobacco/pharmaceutical profiteering,... Experimental Drug Would Help Fight Ebola if Supply Increases, Study Finds [ link to www.nytimes.com] A new study provides strong evidence that the experimental drug given to two American aid workers stricken with Ebola in Africa really works and could make a difference in the current outbreak — if more of it could be produced.
In the study, all 18 monkeys exposed to a lethal dose of Ebola virus survived when given the drug, known as ZMapp, even when the treatment was started five days after infection, when the animals were already sick.
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“To actually be able to reverse all those symptoms and signs and bring them back to baseline, I think that is pretty astounding,” said Dr. Chandran, an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. “If you are going to give somebody something during this outbreak, this would be it.”
The problem is that the supply of ZMapp is exhausted, according to Mapp Biopharmaceutical, the nine-person San Diego company that is developing the drug. And it is expected to take months to make more of the drug, which is produced in genetically engineered tobacco plants.
ZMapp came to the world’s attention early this month when it appeared to help two American aid workers stricken in Liberia and later flown to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. The workers, Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, recovered and were discharged from the hospital last week.
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The remaining supplies went to a Spanish priest, three doctors in Liberia and, just this week, a British nurse recovering in London. The priest, Miguel Pajares, and one of the Liberians, Dr. Abraham Borbor, died.
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Some other experimental drugs have shown the ability to protect monkeys from Ebola if given shortly after infection, up to about two days. ...
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People can take up to 21 days to develop symptoms. In the study, the monkeys not given ZMapp died by eight days after infection. He said the next step would be to see if the drug can work even if started six or seven days after exposure, though at some point, the organs would be too damaged to allow for recovery.
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The resulting antibodies are then manufactured in genetically engineered tobacco plants. A spokesman for Reynolds American, the tobacco company that owns the Kentucky manufacturing facility, said production began again about two weeks ago, but he declined to say how much could be produced how quickly.
...Last Edited by Ag47 on 08/30/2014 12:33 AM |
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08/30/2014 12:12 AM
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Report Copyright Violation | Re: NY Times: Study Says ZMapp Works Against Ebola |
Ag47
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User ID: 62302635
United States
08/30/2014 12:16 AM
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Report Copyright Violation | Re: NY Times: Study Says ZMapp Works Against Ebola |
