As Ebola continues to count victims in West Africa, only three drug companies are pursuing reliable treatments or cures. The virus, which leads to horrific bleeding, clotting, and eventual death, is one of the worst to hit humans, but the scale of its damage is apparently considered too small—just over 1,000 people killed by the virus since March—for the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies to commit millions in research the way they have for AIDS or Hepatitis B. Still, several Western governments are subsidizing vaccine research. There are a few ideas, from custom-made antibodies that can fight the disease to a vaccine that can be injected after contact to help treat, rather than prevent, the virus spreading.

Preventing Ebola is a