FRANKFORT, Ky. — This summer as the Ebola epidemic spread in Africa, fears of it coming to the United States were small. With the diagnosis of two Texas health care workers contracting the disease, Ebola is now grabbing headlines across the country.
Those workers tested positive for the illness after caring for an infected patient from Liberia who died in a Dallas hospital. Kentucky also has a connection to the disease, in that an experimental drug to combat Ebola is being created here using a plant associated more with negative effects on health than as a cure for disease.
Kentucky Bio-Processing (KBP) conducts contract research and development related to protein expression and extraction from tobacco plants. Basically, the company specializes in using plants to make proteins that are then used as pharmaceuticals, according to information from KBP.
The company also notes plant-based protein production is a faster, more efficient and less expensive way to deliver pharmaceutical protein products than traditional methods. Reynolds American, Inc. (RAI) – the parent company of tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds – acquired KBP last January.
The connection between KBP and Ebola comes via Mapp Pharmaceuticals, which has contracted with the Kentucky company to manufacture a compound designed to be a post-exposure treatment for the virus. That compound is an experimental drug known as ZMapp.
RAI spokesman David Howard said currently, KBP has temporarily stopped work on other projects to solely concentrate on the production of ZMapp. "The other projects at KBP have been put on hold so that it can devote its resources to more of the ZMapp compound," he explained.
"The company has hired additional staff and they’re working around the clock, seven days a week on production, in the hopes that these efforts can help expedite the drug approval protocols that we are trying to move forward on."
Getting approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is normally not a fast process. But the agency recognizes the need for a vaccine. According to information from the FDA concerning the virus, while there are experimental vaccines and treatments for the illness under development, these investigational products are in the earliest stages of product development and have not yet been fully tested for safety or effectiveness.
"Small amounts of some of these experimental products have been manufactured for testing. Thus, very few courses of these experimental products are available for clinical use. The FDA hopes that these investigational products will one day serve to improve outcomes for Ebola patients," states the FDA’s website.
"However, we expect that most, if not all, of the products in development will require administration in a carefully monitored health care setting, in addition to supportive care and rigorous infection control."
The ZMapp compound was ordered by Emory University Hospital in Atlanta this summer while treating two missionary medical workers from the United States, Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, who became infected with the disease while working in Africa. Howard confirmed the drug had been sent but could not comment on whether those patients received the compound as part of their treatment.
Numerous news reports, however, did confirm the use of the drug in these cases although it was not determined as to whether it actually made a difference. But both health care workers have recovered from their illnesses. Last week the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the development of a vaccine to prevent Ebola will be accelerated with support from the agency’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR).
Howard said plant-based protein production is what KBP specializes in and has been doing this work for many years. "We’re certainly glad to see these efforts are producing some possible, very positive results and we’re very optimistic for this process playing a pivotal role in moving forward in other areas, as well as in the pharmaceutical protein products," he said.
"Everyone at KBP is very focused in their efforts right now and are hopeful those efforts can help make a difference in addressing this very, very serious matter."
