Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation's head office is pictured in Burnaby, British Columbia August 5, 2014. Tekmira, based in Canada, was one of a few companies to have developed Ebola treatments advanced enough to be tested on people. Shares of Tekmi
Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation's head office is pictured in Burnaby, British Columbia August 5, 2014. Tekmira, based in Canada, was one of a few companies to have developed Ebola treatments advanced enough to be tested on people. Shares of Tekmira soared on Monday, only to slump on Nasdaq after a CNN report suggested another company was first in line to see its Ebola treatment used to treat an outbreak in Africa. REUTERS/Ben Nelms REUTERS/Ben Nelms

Shares of Canadian biopharmaceuticals firm Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation surged on early Wednesday after it announced it has started the limited manufacturing of a new drug meant to prevent the Ebola-Guinea virus from replicating. As of 9:40 am ET, the company's stocks reached more than 9 percent in Toronto at C$22.00, the highest at C$22.70.

The Ebola-Guinea variant is the one responsible for the Ebola epidemic currently prevalent in West Africa. To date, the virus has killed over 4,500 people, mostly in West Africa. Cases have also reached the United States, but the number is minimal. The company said the new product will be available in early December 2014. It did not say how many doses are specifically being manufactured.

A Canadian firm, Tekmira said it has completed the design of a modified RNAi therapeutic specifically targeting the viral Ebola-Guinea variant. It added the Ebola virus' genomic sequence has likewise been determined from several viral isolates. One of the powerful features of the RNAi therapeutics is its ability to rapidly and accurately match the evolving genetic sequences of emerging infectious agents. "RNAi therapeutics have the potential to treat a number of human diseases by 'silencing' disease causing genes," the company said.

Known as TKM-Ebola, Tekmira's application to U.S. regulators is on partial clinical hold. It was however already authorized by the FDA in September to provide treatment to people with confirmed or suspected Ebola infections. But Tekmira maintained several patients had healed using the product. These successful recovery data will be collected and submitted to the FDA to enable the investigational new drug application.

TKM-Ebola is one of the leading candidates for the WHO's human trials in West Africa. The Ebola drug candidates are tested in Ebola patients in the three hardest hit west African nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Others in the list include drugs from Sarepta Therapeutics Inc and Mapp Biopharmaceuticals' experimental Ebola drug ZMapp.

This month, the U.S. had its first known death caused by Ebola. It has prompted the federal government to institute a series of measures to combat its further entry as well as spread into the country.

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