Date: 2015-10-29
Type of information: Services contract
Compound: antibodies against the Sudan strain of the Ebola virus
Company: Medicago (Canada) Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)
Therapeutic area: Infectious diseases
Type agreement: services contract
Action mechanism: monoclonal antibody
Disease: Ebola fever
Details: * On October 29, 2015, Medicago, a leading Canadian company in the development and production of plant-based therapeutics and vaccines, has been awarded a contract by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to develop two antibodies to fight the Sudan strain of the Ebola virus. Medicago will produce these antibodies at its facility in Quebec City. In producing this technology, Medicago will demonstrate a Canadian capability to manufacture monoclonal antibodies as part of emergency preparedness and response efforts. The Canadian government and Medicago are now working together on antibodies for the Sudan strain lineage, building on existing work directed at the Zaire strain which is responsible for the ongoing outbreak in West Africa. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Ebola Sudan strain has previously been associated with large-scale outbreaks in Africa. The availability of an effective antibody would allow for an early intervention in case of a new outbreak involving the Sudan strain. Medicago\'s innovative technology uses plants as miniature factories that can quickly produce large quantities of vaccines or antibodies. This technology demonstrated its potential for responding to global pandemics when it produced candidate vaccines for H1N1 in 2009 and H7N9 in 2013 in just 19 days, compared to the several months required to produce vaccines using eggs. The company, which recently announced an important expansion of its Quebec City facilities in May 2015, can rapidly produce anti-Ebola antibodies with high yields. Prior to this award, Medicago successfully completed the recent contract signed with the U.S. government to explore an alternate production method for Ebola antibodies against the Zaire strain. As governments around the world continue to face health threats such as pandemic strains of influenza and Ebola viruses Medicago has the potential to respond to international emergencies and can make a major contribution to rapid response, surge capacity and stockpiles across the globe.
Financial terms:
Latest news:
