Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Awarded $140 Million Ebola Treatment Research Contract

Bioresearch online reported that Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation(TSX:TKM,NASDAQ:TKMR) has been awarded a $140 million contract by the U.S. Department of Defense for the research of a treatment for the Ebola virus. According to Bioresearch, Tekmira has seen dramatic progress in human trials for TKM-Ebola that started last month. As a result, Tekmira has been asked if it would consider approving the drug under compassionate use authorization for the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

As quoted in the publication

The global market for Ebola is small, because the disease is rare. According to the International Business Times, Ebola has affected fewer than 10,000. Because it’s a relatively limited market, pharmaceutical companies are less willing to fund the difficult and lengthy research process that often goes into developing treatments for more common diseases, like malaria. However, this is not to understate the severity of the virus.

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