--- title: Ebola Should Change How We Fund Drugs for Emerging Disease description: "The big pharma companies are not in the business of charity" canonical: https://time.com/3481378/ebola-emerging-diseases/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-08T17:25:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:00:30.395Z article:section: Health og:title: Ebola Should Change How We Fund Drugs for Emerging Disease og:description: "The big pharma companies are not in the business of charity" og:url: https://time.com/3481378/ebola-emerging-diseases/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt572692c42eea38a9/69875f46e53aba16f64d4dbd/158930045-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4872 og:image:height: 2741 og:image:alt: 158930045 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ebola Should Change How We Fund Drugs for Emerging Disease twitter:description: "The big pharma companies are not in the business of charity" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt572692c42eea38a9/69875f46e53aba16f64d4dbd/158930045-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ebola Should Change How We Fund Drugs for Emerging Disease > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=7b3d4791-1517-494f-8bc4-59516df695d9&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 5 Ebola Questions You're Wondering About [Watch (HLS stream): 5 Ebola Questions You're Wondering About](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/9QwqrSi9.m3u8) (2:02)  _Published 2014-08-07. TIME Health Reporter Alexandra Sifferlin explains why there's no cure for Ebola, how infected patients are treated, and more common questions about the disease._ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Oct 8, 2014 5:25 PM UTC  Transmission electron micrograph of Ebola virus Transmission electron micrograph of Ebola virus Kallista Images—Getty Images/Kallista Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Oct 8, 2014 5:25 PM UTC Emerging and infectious diseases are having a moment for all the worst reasons, with credit due to the Ebola outbreak. But scientists studying other emerging diseases beyond Ebola are hopeful that the attention on the disease—and what can happen without available therapeutics—is here to stay. The fact that there are no drugs or vaccines approved for Ebola isn’t for a dearth of research, but rather because there’s scant financial incentive for pharmaceutical companies to take on the treatments. “We’ve been studying Ebola for almost a decade and we’ve always been interested in Ebola. It’s like the rockstar of viruses,” says Michael Katze, a professor of microbiology at the University of Washington. His team studies the responses of hosts (like animals) to viruses from Ebola to SARS to hepatitis C. “All the major players in Ebola have had vaccines tested in non-human primates”—and they work, he says. But we lack vaccines or cures for many other emerging and infectious diseases, including bird flu and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012\. Two people [brought the disease to the United States](http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/mers/US.html) in May 2014. Viruses, though lumped together as infectious agents, are very different. A bird flu virus is quite different from an Ebola virus in a variety of ways, from how they attack their hosts to how they are transmitted to how virulent they are. The science behind the viruses isn’t uniformly advanced, either. But the outbreak of widespread infection from diseases like Ebola, bird flu, SARS and MERS can look quite alike. Dr. Robert Belshe is a professor of infectious diseases, allergy and immunology at Saint Louis University and [published](http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1911325) a study in _JAMA_ on Oct. 7 on his most up-to-date work on bird flu. “Ebola is a very different virus \[from bird flu\], but if you take a step back and ask ‘what are the public health consequences of these two viruses,’ they are sort of similar,” says Belshe. “If bird flu develops the ability to transfer person to person, it would be a disaster much greater than the Ebola disaster happening right now. It’s a very different virus, but has similar lessons for us. We need tools to protect against contagions—vaccines and antivirals.” Matthew Frieman of the University of Maryland School of Medicine has been looking at repurposing FDA-approved drugs for diseases like SARS and MERS. He says that MERS researchers have been building their knowledge about how to treat and prevent the disease by using their history with SARS. That doesn’t mean that MERS has an economic backing beyond funding for research, however. “I don’t think anyone thinks they are going to make a billion dollars off of a MERS drug,” says Frieman. “If you’re a company, that matters. As a researcher, I don’t care. I think the current Ebola outbreak may give a bump to the idea that having things stockpiled or at least the knowledge base there is important.” Katze agrees. “The big pharma companies are not in the business of charity, so unless they have the money, they aren’t going to bother with a vaccine that isn’t important in this country,” he says. “The inadequacy of international response had nothing to do with research.” Funding for diseases that largely affect low-income countries will depend mainly on funding from the government sector, according to IBISWorld healthcare analyst Sarah Turk. “The limited number of individuals that have Ebola, which is a significantly smaller market than many common illnesses like high blood pressure, has limited the number of pharmaceutical companies that are willing to invest in Ebola drugs,” she says in an email to TIME. “Once individuals take Ebola drugs, they will no longer make repeat purchases of Ebola medications, thus demonstrating the limited revenue potential for Ebola drugs.” Turk says there’s a chance that the Ebola epidemic will lead to more organizations awarding prizes to drug manufacturers that can develop innovative drugs, and that the global nature of epidemics could incite international governments to share research and development subsidy costs. Those are hopeful scenarios for scientists working on treatments for the next big outbreaks of diseases. “It’s a different world now. All these people who don’t want vaccines and don’t believe in global warming are going to be very surprised,” says Katze citing the rise of dengue fever, West Nile and chikungunya in southern U.S. states. “You can’t stop people or mosquitos from traveling, so you have to come up with a better response and be better prepared.” ## Transcript The Ebola virus is ravaging West Africa, taking at least 800 lives and leaving behind a lot of confusion. Here are five common questions about the disease. Number one, if there's no vaccine and cure for Ebola ,. What are doctors doing to treat infected patients? Currently, doctors can only provide supportive care like monitoring their heart rate, and blood pressure, and making sure their fluids are replenished. This will hopefully help sustain infected patients through the disease. If there's no cure for Ebola, how are some people surviving? When someone is infected with the virus, the body produces antibodies to fight it. People who have survived Ebola have produced enough antibodies to neutralize the virus and eventually, their immune system will clear it. Number three, why is there no vaccine or drug for Ebola? There are currently experimental drugs and vaccines under development. But since Ebola is a relatively rare disease compared to others, there hasn't been a financial incentive for pharmaceutical companies to put a lot of funding into these drugs. Number four. How can Americans with Ebola be evacuated back to the U. S .? There are certain plains that medical groups use to evacuate and transport people with very infectious diseases. The plains can be equipped with medical equipment, as well as units to isolate patients from doctors. Doctors accompanying patients will wear full body suits to keep themselves protected. Number 5, what are my chances of getting Ebola in the U. S .? [ MUSIC ] The only way to contract the disease is through direct contact with bodily fluids, which can include blood, vomit, semen, and yes, even sweat. With proper protection and equipment, being infected with the disease is highly unlikely. For more answers to your questions about Ebola and to follow Time's coverage of the disease, visit time. com / ebola. 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