BIOSCIENCE AT WORK Pandemic-preparedness is part of this company’s mission BY PAT ST. GERMAIN
M ost of us didn’t have a global pandemic in mind when we rang in the New Year on Jan. 1, 2020. But being prepared for just such a scenario is what global life-sciences company Emergent BioSolutions is all about. Founded in 1998, its oft-stated mission is to “protect and enhance life,” by developing and manufacturing vaccines, therapeutics and other products to combat health threats from anthrax to ebola to Zika virus. In collaboration with the World Health Organization and
other agencies, it flags and develops speedy responses to emerging threats around the world. And in January, the company hit the ground running, using a made-in-Manitoba process to develop plasma-derived hyperimmunes as potential treatments for COVID-19. In March, therapeutics business unit head and senior vice-president Dr. Laura Saward said Winnipeg researchers were already making headway. And in October, the company announced the start of a Phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate the effects of COVID-Human Immune Globulin
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