UPDATE: Chimerix appeared to continue its downward slump in morning trading on Thursday.
Dive Brief:
- On Wednesday morning, the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas announced that Thomas Eric Duncan, the first patient to be diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S., had died.
- Duncan's death comes just days after it was announced that he was being treated with Chimerix's brincidofovir, an experimental broad spectrum antiviral in phase III testing for use against cytomegalovirus and adenovirus infections, and on the same morning that Chimerix announced promising results from a clinical trial of adenovirus patients being given the drug.
- Chimerix stock had plunged nearly 10% on the news as of press time.
Dive Insight:
Investors fled Chimerix on news of the patient's death, which was announced at approximately 11:20 A.M Wednesday. Tekmira, whose experimental TKM-Ebola was used on an infected American doctor who was later declared virus-free, saw its stock temporarily soar on the news before coming back down to Earth.
Other companies currently testing out Ebola medications include the privately-held Mapp Biopharmaceutical and Sarepta Therapeutics. GSK is also working with the NIH to develop an Ebola vaccine.
Chimerix's huge drop could very well be temporary, however. This morning, the company announced that brincidofovir had drastically improved survival rates for patients infected with adenovirus.