After having several governments under its worry-trap, Ebola has started influencing the stock market and Lakeland Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAKE), Alpha Pro Tech, Ltd. (NYSEMKT:APT), Ibio Inc (NYSEMKT:IBIO) are among the primary gainers of the crisis.
In the last few weeks, most of the biotech companies and biopharmaceuticals associated with Ebola products have witnessed a sharp increase in share prices. The shares of Lakeland Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAKE) closed at $29.00 after rising 47.73% yesterday and its shares have grown 233% in the last one week. Following a similar trend, Alpha Pro Tech, Ltd. (NYSEMKT:APT) closed at $10.05 after increasing 35.26% during the day’s trade and its shares have witnessed 210% increase in the last one week.
In the league of leading biotech stocks, Ibio Inc (NYSEMKT:IBIO) is the latest company to join as its shares rose 66.67% in yesterday’s trading. In addition to it, the shares of Ibio Inc have witnessed a growth of 231% in the last one week pushing it near to its 52-week high. Further, its shares rose to $2.64 during the afterhours trade registering an additional increase of 7.76%.
Another primary reason for the increase in Ibio Inc (NYSEMKT:IBIO)’s share prices was its potential candidacy for partnership with Mapp Biopharmaceutical, which is looking for a partner to boost the production of its Ebola drug, ZMapp, which is the lead product offering from Mapp Biopharmaceutical. The drug has proven to be effective against the Ebola virus but one major problem among manufacturers is the preparation time. It takes up to six months to prepare the medicine and the company hasn’t been able to find any alternative manufacturing process for the same.
Paul Weisbruch, VP at Street One Financial, said,
“The spider’s web of companies that are beneficiaries to an Ebola outbreak are becoming visible to portfolio managers. It’s not like buying a vaccine that might work. There’s something more tangible with someone who supplies hazmat suits.”
With the raising Ebola concern among the global economies, the shares of biotech companies are likely to experience a high tide in the upcoming weeks.
This article has been written by Prakash Pandey.
