The newly emerged coronavirus has bought mayhem and deaths, around the world, leaving no traces of mercy to any of the economic sectors. Yet, one industry is thriving and profiting handsomely. Also, it is worth mentioning that even though researchers are the only ray of hope to end such global pandemic, yet, they are eventually shadowed during an annual budget forecast.
Gerald Posner, author of “Pharma: Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America.” said “Pharmaceutical companies view Covid-19 as a once-in-a-lifetime business opportunity”. Certainly, the world needs pharmaceutical products and hence, its critical role as a global sector is inarguable. For the new coronavirus outbreak, we all need treatments and vaccines. And dozens of Big Pharma(s) are pushing hard to send vaccines in the pipeline and they’re all in that race, vying to make one.
During the current crisis, the raw materials for basic pharmaceutical products like paracetamol have shot up in the market. Governments are injecting huge spending packages into pharmaceutical industries.
Gilead’s stock price went up as the antiviral drug Remdesivir, created to treat Ebola, was used to treat Covid-19 patients. Along with, Sanofi's malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, Roche's Tocilizumab, and Regeneron Pharma's Kevzara are used in the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Recently, The National Medical Products Administration of China has approved an anti-viral drug, Favilavir, for treating coronavirus infection.
Johnson & Johnson, DiaSorin Molecular, and QIAGEN are receiving funding from the Department of Health and Human Services for work associated with the outbreak. And according to Statista, The United States is leading in pharmaceutical innovation and NYC-based Pfizer is the world’s largest pharmaceutical company which reaped around 53.6 billion U.S. dollars from pharmaceutical sales.