Sunday, September 28, 2014

Ebola-related shares

Ebola is extremely infectious but not extremely contagious. It is infectious, because an infinitesimally small amount can cause illness. Laboratory experiments on nonhuman primates suggest that even a single virus may be enough to trigger a fatal infection.

Ebola can be considered moderately contagious, because the virus is not transmitted through the air. The most contagious diseases, such as measles or influenza, virus particles are airborne.

Companies that are part of the growing effort to find an effective treatment for the deadly Ebola virus:

Pharmaceuticals
  • Ibio (IBIO) - may become part of the government's effort to ramp up production of ZMapp. The experimental drug was developed by privately-held Mapp Biophamaceuticals and used to save the lives of two American health workers who were infected but recovered. 
  • Mapp Biopharmaceutical (private): Mapp’s therapy for Ebola, known as ZMapp, is getting a lot of attention for its ability to treat the disease, even if the company is getting no mileage in the stock market. ZMapp has been was used to treat two U.S. health workers who were infected but recovered. Three Liberians were treated with ZMapp, one of whom died. An elderly Spanish priest died after using the drug, but a British nurse working in Sierra Leone recovered after receiving ZMapp.
Others
  • Lakeland Industries (LAKE) - hazmat-suit maker
  • Alpha Pro Tech (APT) -  face mask maker
Note
  • Tekmira Pharmaceuticals (TKMR) was working on the TKM-Ebola drug.  Development of TKM-Ebola was terminated in mid June 2015 during a Phase II trial, for lack of efficacy.  The next month, Tekmira changed its name to Arbutus Biopharma.

  

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