Ebola Stocks Surge as Race for Treatment Heats Up - but Steer Clear of Overhyped Plays

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The number of companies racing to find an Ebola treatment is increasing. All drugs remain in the testing stage, but that hasn't stopped investors from piling into these "Ebola stocks."

Chimerix Inc. (Nasdaq: CMRX) climbed 5% Monday following reports that the Ebola patient in Dallas is being treated with its drug, brincidofovir. And Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp. (Nasdaq: TKMR) soared 25% on Sept. 30 after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the country's first Ebola case in a man who traveled here from Africa after unknowingly becoming infected.

In fact, there are at least seven "Ebola stocks" in the race for approved treatment, with investors making a mad dash for shares...

7 Ebola Stocks Moving Up on Treatment Race

The Worst Ebola Outbreak in History

The 2014 Ebola epidemic is the largest ever, affecting multiple countries in West Africa and spreading to other continents.

On Sept. 30, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the first travel-associated case of Ebola to be diagnosed in the United States. Monday, a Spanish nurse tested positive for the virus, becoming the first person known to have contracted Ebola outside West Africa in the current epidemic.

According to the World Health Organization, some 7,470 people in West Africa are known to have Ebola. The actual number, however, is likely much higher. Cases have been missed, deaths uncounted, and "there is widespread under-reporting of new cases," WHO warns. So far there have been 3,431 reported deaths.

Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp. (Nasdaq: TKMR) is working in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense's Medical Countermeasure Systems BioDefense Office on an Ebola vaccine. In March 2014, Tekmira received "Fast Track" designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the development of TKM-Ebola, its anti-Ebola viral RNAi therapeutic. The FDA's Fast Track is a process designed to facilitate the development and expedite the review of drugs in order to get important new therapies to patients earlier. In August, the FDA modified its clinical hold status on Tekmira's experimental Ebola treatment to partial hold, enabling it for potential use in humans infected with the virus. TKM-Ebola is currently in phase 1 of testing. The company has already treated a few Ebola patients in the United States (aid workers transported here), as well as patients outside of the United States, with some success. However, even if the CDC uses Tekmira's Ebola treatment for current or future patients, it will be on a limited basis. That's because the Canadian drugmaker would need several months or a year to make enough in order to supply a defense stockpile. Shares, at $24.86, are up a stratospheric 211.86% year to date.

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