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Ebola: Search For A Vaccine On The Fast Track

Oct. 27, 2014 12:39 PM ETBVNRY, JNJ, LUMO, GSK6 Comments
Tony Daltorio profile picture
Tony Daltorio
209 Followers

Summary

  • Governments along with international health organizations and regulators will likely indemnify drug companies developing Ebola vaccines.
  • Pharmaceutical companies, including GSK and JNJ, are fast-tracking development of Ebola vaccines.
  • This combination of factors will help not only those at threat from Ebola, but the drug companies too.

The first recorded case of Ebola happened in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1976. It slowly spread, in different strains, since then through parts of western Africa.

The deadly Ebola virus began its most recent incarnation as what looked like a containable outbreak in Guinea last December. But it has not been contained, and continued to spread to other countries in west Africa. With its recent exponential growth, experts in the medical field now say we could see an additional 1.4 million cases by year-end in a worst-case scenario.

That is jaw-dropping, to say the least!

The virus' rapid spread seemed to have caught both global governments and the major drug companies unawares. But, thankfully, that is beginning to change. . . . .

Drug companies are quickly advancing research and testing on drugs that may provide protection against the deadly virus. And rather surprisingly, government health agencies are being helpful.

Government's Helping Hand?

Global governments and international health agencies, such as the World Health Organization, are actually talking about granting drug companies fast-tracking Ebola vaccines indemnity.

This makes sense in order to protect the firms against potential losses and lawsuits. Especially considering Ebola overall is a rather small commercial opportunity.

And in particular when consideration is taken at how fast the drug companies are moving the process along. The CEO of GlaxoSmithKline PLC ADR (GSK), Andrew Witty, was quoted in the Financial Times as saying, "We are literally doing in maybe five or six months what would normally take five or six years."

Witty is among those pharmaceutical company executives looking for some sort of indemnity.

GSK Leading the Way

That is because his company has the most advanced of the Ebola vaccines (ChAd3) being developed. The vaccine is being developed jointly by the biowarfare department of the U.S. National Institute

This article was written by

Tony Daltorio profile picture
209 Followers
Earned a bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Pittsburgh before deciding to switch gears and pursue a career in the financial field. I went on to earn an MBA, also at the University of Pittsburgh. I worked for nearly three decades in the investment business, including nearly two decades with Charles Schwab & Co. While at Schwab, I worked both as a broker and as a trading supervisor. While at Schwab, I wrote the daily pre-market opening update for the entire MidAtlantic region. This task was given to me because of my vast knowledge of and years of experience in researching all markets - stocks, bonds, currencies, commodities and international markets. After leaving Schwab, I became a fulltime investment writer. Currently I am the editor of the paid Growth Stock Advisor newsletter for Investors Alley.

Analyst’s Disclosure: The author has no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. The author wrote this article themselves, and it expresses their own opinions. The author is not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). The author has no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

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