How Will Johnson & Johnson's Ebola Investment Pay Off?

In early September, Johnson & Johnson stated that it was accelerating the development of a vaccine against the Zaire strain of the Ebola Virus that has been responsible for the current outbreak in Africa. Now the company has announced that it will begin testing a vaccine by January 2015 and may be able to develop around 250,000 doses by May 2015 if the trials go well. [1] Johnson & Johnson is working with Bavarian Nordic, a biotechnology firm based in Denmark, to develop the Ebola vaccine. The company is investing close to $200 million to develop its vaccine, and another $187 million in licensing deals with Danish biotech firm for another version of Ebola vaccine. [2] Investors ought to be thinking about how this investment will pay off for Johnson & Johnson. It appears that despite the rush, there is a good chance that the company can earn positive return on this investment. However, the additive effect to its overall value will be small.
Source: Markets