Which Pharmaceutical Company Will Benefit From Swine Flu?
It's no secret that “Big Pharma”, the name given to all pharmaceuticals companies posting annual profits above $3 billion, will profit from any widespread sickness. Whatever your opinion on the world's most profitable pharmaceuticals companies, it is indisputable that the recent swine-flu outbreak has caused their revenue to sky-rocket.
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Most of these companies will either be selling increased volumes of existing anti-flu drugs, or will be developing new drugs and vaccines designed specifically to target swine flu. Johnson and Johnson, for instance, have increased their profits mainly on the back of improved sales of hand sanitising soaps.
GlaxoSmithKline, the world's second-largest drug company, has already received orders for over 195 million doses of the anti swine flu drug that it is developing. Sales of its anti-flu drug Ralenza have shot up from $5 million dollars in late 2008 to $99 million in April, May and June 2009.
Another company who have recently begun trials of a swine flu vaccine is the French Sanofi-Aventis. The company have also recently announced that they will be donating around 100 million doses of swine flu and bird flu vaccines to poorer countries.
Of course, this will only lead to them making more sales in future, by establishing their name and reliability in these countries. As a publicly trading company Sanofi-Aventis is legally and morally bound to act in the best interests of its shareholders, and only take actions which are likely to garner future profit. Any gestures of generosity made by these companies are in reality nothing more than marketing tools and clever corporate branding.
However, perhaps the biggest profits will be found with Roche Holding, manufacturers of the ubiquitous Tamiflu drug. This year, sales of the drug have soared by 200% and profitability has increased in equal measure. Roche actually posted a 29% fall in profits for the first half of 2009. However, this was mainly due to their massive $46.8 billion buy-out of the California company Genentech.
With Tamiflu being recommended by the WHO as one of the best drugs to help diminish the seriousness of the disease in at-risk sufferers, sales will likely continue to roll in as the swine-flu pandemic increases in severity.
In conclusion, the answer to the question posed at the beginning of this article is “All of them”. When there are large amounts of sick and dying the pharmaceutical industry will most likely find a way to convert it into profit.
If there is a major pharmaceutical or medical company that is not cashing in on swine flu through the development of vaccines and drugs, then it will do so through various other medical accoutrements. The sales of face masks alone have soared; there will be no area of this industry that does not increase in profits as the pandemic worsens.
Image credit: Flickr
Most of these companies will either be selling increased volumes of existing anti-flu drugs, or will be developing new drugs and vaccines designed specifically to target swine flu. Johnson and Johnson, for instance, have increased their profits mainly on the back of improved sales of hand sanitising soaps.
GlaxoSmithKline, the world's second-largest drug company, has already received orders for over 195 million doses of the anti swine flu drug that it is developing. Sales of its anti-flu drug Ralenza have shot up from $5 million dollars in late 2008 to $99 million in April, May and June 2009.
Another company who have recently begun trials of a swine flu vaccine is the French Sanofi-Aventis. The company have also recently announced that they will be donating around 100 million doses of swine flu and bird flu vaccines to poorer countries.
Of course, this will only lead to them making more sales in future, by establishing their name and reliability in these countries. As a publicly trading company Sanofi-Aventis is legally and morally bound to act in the best interests of its shareholders, and only take actions which are likely to garner future profit. Any gestures of generosity made by these companies are in reality nothing more than marketing tools and clever corporate branding.
However, perhaps the biggest profits will be found with Roche Holding, manufacturers of the ubiquitous Tamiflu drug. This year, sales of the drug have soared by 200% and profitability has increased in equal measure. Roche actually posted a 29% fall in profits for the first half of 2009. However, this was mainly due to their massive $46.8 billion buy-out of the California company Genentech.
With Tamiflu being recommended by the WHO as one of the best drugs to help diminish the seriousness of the disease in at-risk sufferers, sales will likely continue to roll in as the swine-flu pandemic increases in severity.
In conclusion, the answer to the question posed at the beginning of this article is “All of them”. When there are large amounts of sick and dying the pharmaceutical industry will most likely find a way to convert it into profit.
If there is a major pharmaceutical or medical company that is not cashing in on swine flu through the development of vaccines and drugs, then it will do so through various other medical accoutrements. The sales of face masks alone have soared; there will be no area of this industry that does not increase in profits as the pandemic worsens.
Labels: pharmaceutical, swine flu
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