🧬 The project aims to enhance biomanufacturing of monoclonal antibodies to combat filoviruses like Ebola.
🤝 Ginkgo leads a team of experts to innovate cost-effective production methods for medical countermeasures.
💪 This collaboration supports U.S. biosecurity and public health preparedness efforts.
Introduction:
Ginkgo Bioworks has been awarded a substantial contract through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) as part of the BioMaP Consortium. This initiative focuses on enhancing domestic biomanufacturing capabilities for monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) aimed at combating high-lethality infectious diseases, specifically filoviruses such as Ebola and Sudan Viruses.
- The project contract with BARDA has a total value of up to $22.2 million and seeks to develop cost-effective biomanufacturing methods for mAbs.
- The initiative will specifically work on creating a cocktail of mAbs, 1C3 and 1C11, that have been previously developed by Emory University for anti-filovirus treatments.
- Ginkgo Bioworks will collaborate with various partners, including Advanced BioScience Laboratories (ABL) and NeuImmune, to integrate technologies throughout the mAb production process.
- The project emphasizes the importance of scalable mAb manufacturing for national biosecurity and public health, as expressed by Ginkgo’s general manager, Jennifer Wipf.
- The collaboration builds upon Ginkgo’s history of working with the U.S. government to enhance biomanufacturing and response readiness for pathogen threats.
Conclusion:
The contract awarded to Ginkgo Bioworks highlights a pivotal step toward advancing biomanufacturing capabilities for critical medical countermeasures against high-risk infectious diseases. The successful implementation of this project could significantly improve the readiness of the U.S. healthcare system to respond to future viral outbreaks, ensuring rapid production and availability of effective therapeutics.
