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What the Ebola Case Means for Mutual Fund Investors

Shauna O'Brien Oct 01, 2014

After killing more than 3,000 people in West Africa, Ebola has been reported for the first time in the U.S. While the disease has the U.S. frightened of an outbreak, it has also gained attention from investors.

What Ebola Means for Investors

The disease is one of the most deadly as there is currently no cure and the infection can kill within days.

Shares of Tekmira Pharmaceuticals (TKMR) have been surging as the company is now in clinical trials to create a drug for the virus. The company has been given approval by the FDA to give its TKM-Ebola drug to subjects “with confirmed or suspected Ebola virus infections.”

The recent U.S. case of Ebola in the U.S. also now has pharmaceutical companies racing to create a vaccine for the virus.

The companies involved in the treatment or vaccination of the virus range from small biotech companies to pharma giants like GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

Mutual Funds to Watch

There are several companies that could benefit from drugs made for the Ebola virus. Below are mutual funds with exposure to key drug makers.

Ticker	Mutual Fund	Exposure	% of Shares Owned
FBDIX	Franklin Biotechnology Discovery A	Tekmira Pharmaceuticals (TKMR)	3.15%
SHSAX	BlackRock Health Sciences Opps Inv A	Tekmira Pharmaceuticals (TKMR)	1.53%
FBIOX	Fidelity Select Biotechnology Portfolio	NewLink Genetics Corp (NLNK)	5.93%

The Bottom Line

While the Ebola case has the potential to be devastating in the U.S., it may also present an opportunity for investors to see some upside in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries.

There are several mutual funds that offer specific exposure to these industries including the funds listed above.