Shares of several drugmakers developing potential vaccines or treatments for the deadly Ebola virus rose in premarket trading Wednesday, continuing a run that started Tuesday after federal officials confirmed that the first case of the disease has been diagnosed in the United States. Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp., Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. and NewLink Genetics Corp. all saw their stocks jump 6 percent or more about two hours before the markets open.
There are no proven drugs or vaccines for Ebola, a disease so rare that it's been hard to attract investments in countermeasures. The World Health Organization has worked to speed up the use of some experimental vaccines and companies are ramping up testing. Last month, NewLink Genetics said it would start safety testing of a vaccine within a few weeks. Inovio Pharmaceuticals plans to start human trials of a DNA-based vaccine in early 2015. The Food and Drug Administration has authorized the emergency use of a potential Tekmira treatment in West Africa.
IN-DEPTH
- What We Know About Texas Ebola Patient
- How Fear Hinders Ebola Efforts in Africa
- Obama Calls for More Action on Ebola
-- The Associated Press