Ebola Update: ZMapp may be the vacine to treat the Ebola virus. Apparently the ZMapp results were promising enough to move the Defense Threat Reduction Agency to send additional funding to Mapp Biopharmaceutical, a relative newcomer to the industry, founded in 2003. For those interested in the science behind ZMapp, this is how CNN described the workings of the drug: “Antibodies are proteins used by the immune system to mark and destroy foreign or harmful cells. A monoclonal antibody is similar, except it’s engineered in a lab so it will attach to specific parts of a dangerous cell, mimicking your immune system’s natural response. Monoclonal antibodies are used to treat many different types of conditions. This medicine is a three-mouse monoclonal antibody, meaning that mice were exposed to fragments of the Ebola virus and then the antibodies generated within the mice’s blood were harvested to create the medicine.” But Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health said Sunday on Face the Nation that the supplies of ZMapp are depleted. Fauci said the drug won’t be available for six to eight weeks.
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 15:38:52 +0000
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