Canadian pharmaceutical company H&P Labs, Inc., announced earlier this month a partnership with Harvard and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital dedicated to the development of a new drug to fight the Ebola virus.

In 2011, Harvard researchers discovered a protein that, when mutated, inhibits cholesterol transport among cells. Medical School associate professor James M. Cunningham, the project’s head researcher, said the same gene could be used in an anti-viral drug treatment.

“The compound is related to an existing drug currently used as a cholesterol inhibitor,” Cunningham said. “This lends hope to the idea that the anti-Ebola compounds could be made into a useable drug as well.”

But despite the potential for development, Cunningham said H&P Labs is taking a risk by investing into the development of the drug. “There is an 80 percent chance that this compound will never be made into a drug,” Cunningham said.

“It may be many years before the drug is approved by the Food and Drug Administration,” Cunningham said. “Yet, given the high societal demand for an Ebola drug, there is a chance that the FDA will accelerate the drug approval process.”

Before the drug can go before the FDA for approval, years of research, development, and trials are required, according to H&P President and Chief Executive Officer John Huss.

And since the drug is still in its very beginning stages of development, Huss emphasized the need to remain cautious.

“It will take approximately two years to finalize the animal tests and ensure the drug can be produced, after which we will be able to start Phase I safety trials in human volunteers,” Huss wrote in an emailed statement. “As the compounds [are] at a very early stage, there is a risk they may not show efficacy or that the side effect profile may not be suited for use in humans.”

But despite possible risks, Huss remains hopeful.

“We are excited about the potential of these inhibitors for development of an oral treatment for Ebola,” Huss wrote in a statement released on the company’s website. “With a shortened regulatory pathway to commercialization, and their ability to be used in combination with other treatments, these compounds have the potential to meet the critical unmet need for an effective anti-EboV therapy.”

—Staff writer Melanie Y. Fu can be reached at mfu@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter @MelanieYFu.

—Staff writer Jiwon Joung can be reached at joung@college.harvard.edu.