The Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Health, and Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Gregory Taylor, yesterday announced a $4.5 million USD contract between the Government of Canada and Mapp Biopharmaceutical, Inc. to manufacture a number of courses of ZMapp™ monoclonal antibody (mAb) treatment for Ebola.

Image/CDC
Image/CDC

The ZMapp™ treatment, developed by Mapp Biopharmaceutical, uses two mAbs discovered by scientists at the Public Health Agency of Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg and one mAb discovered by the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). ZMapp™ has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for clinical trials in the United States and West Africa and has shown promise when used to treat infected individuals.

This contract with Mapp Biopharmaceutical secures Canada’s access to this Ebola treatment.

Access to the ZMapp™ Ebola treatment will complement the Government of Canada’s overall Ebola preparedness and response activities. These activities also include funding for clinical trials for Canada’s VSV-EBOV Ebola vaccine, strengthened border measures to screen travellers, and domestic Ebola Rapid Response Teams. These and other initiatives ensure Canada’s ability to respond quickly to safeguard the health of Canadians in the event a case of Ebola should occur in Canada.

The Government of Canada remains committed to supporting international efforts to control the Ebola outbreak and to ensuring that appropriate precautions and measures are in place to protect Canadians.