An Arizona State University scientist's work helped lead to an experimental Ebola drug given to two health workers who were sickened by the deadly virus.
Charles Arntzen said he was surprised to learn the ZMapp drug, developed by tiny San Diego biotech company Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc., was used on the health workers because it had not been tested in humans.
"I'm so excited about what is happening," Arntzen said of the treatment. He launched a study on the tobacco-derived drug in the early 2000s.
Mapp Biopharmaceutical, a company with just nine employees, agreed to provide access to the investigational drug that has been tested only on animals. The drug is manufactured by Kentucky Bioprocessing, owned by tobacco company Reynolds American Inc.
Arntzen, a Regents' professor and researcher at ASU's Biodesign Institute, became involved in 2002 when he received a U.S. Army grant to develop a drug to fight Ebola. Arntzen's research focused on genetically modifying tobacco plants to create a protein used to develop the drug.
Mapp Biopharmaceutical identified a cocktail of three antibodies for the drug, which was administered to American aid workers Nancy Writebol and Dr. Kent Brantly. Both were flown to the United States and are being treated at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.
Arntzen credits government officials who authorized the use of the ZMapp drug on the infected health workers in Liberia. The drug had showed positive results in mice and monkeys.
"Somebody made the decision of, 'Let's take this experimental drug, send it to Africa and use it on people,' " Arntzen said. "For a government official, that's real risk-taking."
If the health workers were to die after taking the drug, the government officials who authorized its use will have opened themselves up to criticism, Arntzen said.
Mapp Biopharmaceutical said in a statement that it is further developing the vaccine with LeafBio Inc. of San Diego, Defyrus Inc. of Toronto, the U.S. government and Public Health Agency of Canada. The company added that the decision to use the experimental drug must be authorized by a doctor under the regulatory guidelines of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Mapp Biopharmaceutical President Larry Zeitlin said the company wants to make the drug more widely available.
"We're talking with funders about clinical trials as well as with the FDA about the appropriate path to making ZMapp available to as many people as possible as soon as possible," Zeitlin said. "The development path for this drug is difficult to predict — we are in uncharted territory."
Arntzen said he is no longer involved in developing ZMapp, but his research lab will continue to search for new plant-based discoveries.
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