The Ebola outbreak has sent shares of biotech GeoVax skyrocketing. It's developing a vaccine

Quotes of micro-cap biotech GeoVax jumped almost 11% on May 20. The company said its experimental vaccines could potentially fight a variety of viruses, including a new strain of Ebola raging in Congo and Uganda. On Sunday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared its outbreak an emergency. Wall Street is projecting GeoVax stock to rise nearly 580%.

Shares of GeoVax, whose market capitalization on the Nasdaq is just $7.7 million, jumped nearly 11% to $2.23 on Ma. 20. That's the highest level since mid-February 2026.

The company said that its platform can be used to develop vaccines to combat various pathogens, including a new strain of the Ebola virus - Ebola Bundibugio. Currently, there are no vaccines to prevent it, GeoVax writes.

How the GeoVax platform works and why it's important

GeoVax is developing so-called MVA vaccines. They use modified vaccinia virus Ankara (Modified Vaccinia Ankara, hence the abbreviation MVA), which serves as a kind of "carrier" or "delivery" of genetic material of other viruses into the human body - for the development of immunity.

The vaccines created in this way mimic the shape of real viruses, but are not able to infect a person and reproduce inside his body, the company explains. In addition, MVA can be used to create vaccines for several diseases at once.

GeoVax cites an example: its vaccines created with this technology have proven effective in animal trials against other strains of Ebola - Zaire and Sudan - as well as the Marburg virus, which causes death in 88% of cases.

Outbreaks of Ebola, smallpox, Marburg disease, hantavirus and other emerging pathogens confirm that preparedness for one strain of virus does not necessarily guarantee preparedness for the next, says GeoVax CEO David Dodd (quoted in the press release). This leads to a growing need for technologies that can provide a rapid response to changing threats, he says.

WHO announced on Sunday, May 17: Ebola fever caused by the Bundibugio virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda is a public health emergency of international concern (PHE). Several areas of the countries are experiencing strange outbreaks of the disease, the vast majority of which is not laboratory-confirmed, but its symptoms are consistent with Ebola, according to the organization. As of Ma. 16, about 100 people have died, presumably after contracting the virus.

Since the beginning of the year, GeoVax quotes have fallen almost 48%.

Two Wall Street analysts recommend buying the company's stock and one recommends holding it. The average target price is $15, implying a potential upside of nearly 573% to the last closing price.