CHO cell production and sequence improvement in the 13C6FR1 anti-Ebola antibody.

From March 2014 through February 2015, the Ebola virus spread rapidly in West Africa, resulting in almost 30,000 infections and approximately 10,000 deaths. With no approved therapeutic options available, an experimental antibody cocktail known as ZMapp™ was administered to patients on a limited compassionate-use basis. The supply of ZMapp™ was highly constrained at the time because it was in preclinical development and a novel production system (tobacco plants) was being used for manufacturing.