US, Liberia start 1st formal test of ZMapp Ebola virus drug
Source: AP
TRENTON, N.J.
The U.S. and Liberian governments have just begun the first formal patient testing of an experimental Ebola virus treatment that's only been used on an emergency basis.
The drug, ZMapp, contains three genetically engineered proteins designed to hone in on a target on the surface of the deadly virus to stop the disease's progression. ZMapp, developed by San Diego-based Mapp Pharmaceuticals Inc., is "grown" in tobacco plants engineered to make large quantities of the virus-blocking proteins.
Adults, as well as children of any age, will be enrolled in the study if they are admitted to Ebola treatment units in Liberia or are health care workers returning to the U.S. for treatment after being infected while serving in West Africa. That's happened to seven U.S. medical and aid workers.
In addition, adults and children who may have acquired Ebola in the United States from contact with an infected person will be enrolled. That has happened to only two people — the nurses who treated patient Thomas Eric Duncan, who had traveled from Africa and died at a Dallas hospital.
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