LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — The number of companies with a hand in trying to find an effective combatant against the deadly Ebola virus is growing almost as quickly as the disease spreads, with one player receiving critical regulatory approval on Monday.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized a drug developed by Chimerix Inc. CMRX, +4.76% for use as an emergency investigational new treatment in the rapid deployment against Ebola. Chimerix officials said in a press release the application was granted for the drug known as brincidofovir in light of requests made by physicians treating the illness.
“Based on in vitro data from work conducted by the [Centers for Disease Control] and the National Institutes of Health suggesting brincidofovir’s activity against Ebola, we are hopeful that brincidofovir may offer a potential treatment for [the] Ebola virus disease during this outbreak,” Chimerix Chief Executive Dr. M. Michelle Berry said in a prepared statement.
Shares of Chimerix were up nearly 5% to $31.50 in recent action.
Meanwhile, it seemed as if the first line of defenders against Ebola that gained a lot of attention last week started to give way to Chimerix and other stock when the market opened on Monday.
The most prominent decliner was Tekmira Pharmaceuticals TKMR, -15.13% , which lost the ground it gained last week after Leerink Research cut its rating on the company’s stock to “market perform” from “outperform.” Leerink analyst Michael Schmidt said the runup in the company’s valuation was too high, based on how far its Ebola therapy has gotten in the regulatory approval process and how much it would add to Tekmira’s bottom line.
Schmidt noted that the company’s $340 million valuation increase would assume a 90% probability of success for approval from the FDA, an order for a stockpile worth $500 million and a contract that would be renewed every three years with 30% net margin.
“Our prior base case assumption had been a $225 million stockpile contract following FDA approval of [Tekmira’s drug], as indicated by the [Defense Department] prior to the diagnosis of the Ebola patient in Dallas,” Schmidt’s note said.
Shares of Tekmira were off 16% in recent action to $24.80.
Other stocks highlighted in a MarketWatch story last week also started to fall, including BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. BCRX, -9.69% , off more than 12% in recent action to $11.21, NewLink Genetics Corp. NLNK, -7.00% , down more than 6% to $22.05, and Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. SRPT, -4.76% which lost 5% to $22.07.
Some stocks that weren’t highlighted started to gain ground, including Novavax Inc. NVAX, +2.43% , up more than 2% to $4.20 and Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. INO, +0.73% , which was up substantially at first but only marginally in recent action to $11.05.
A smaller player, NanoViricides Inc. NNVC, -2.47% ,was off slightly in recent action. The company last week said it was developing anti-Ebola drug candidates.
Another drug maker coming to the fore was Crucell, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. JNJ, -0.45% Crucell, like GlaxoSmithKline GSK, +0.28% , is developing a vaccine that would be injected into healthy individuals to prevent the disease from attacking. Others, like Chimerix and Tekmira, are working on treatments for those already afflicted with Ebola.
