Covid Vaccine: Will Pharmaceutical Companies Earn Bumper Profits?

At the time of the onset of the corona epidemic, we were warned that it takes years to develop a vaccine for any disease. So don’t expect too much about vaccines.

But now with the passing of ten months, the corona virus epidemic vaccines are being given and many of the companies that are ahead in inventing these vaccines are behind them.

As a result, investment analysts predict that at least two of these companies (American biotech company Moderna and Germany’s Bio-En-Tech), together with their partner company, Fizer of America, will trade billions of dollars next year.

But it is not clear how much money will be made by the manufacturer of the vaccine.

The way these vaccines have been funded and the way a large number of companies have come forward to manufacture vaccines, it seems that there will be no long-term opportunity to make big profits.

Who has invested money?

Seeing the need of vaccine in times of epidemic, the government and fund givers gave billions of pounds to plan and test the vaccine. Organizations like Gates Foundation openly supported these schemes. Apart from this, many people also came forward and supported these schemes. Alibaba founder Jack Ma and music star Dolly Parton also came forward and gave funds for these schemes.

According to science data analytics company Airfinity, £ 6.5 billion has been given by governments to make and test Kovid. At the same time, 1.5 billion pounds were given from non-profit organizations.

Only 2.6 billion pounds came from the companies’ own investment. Many of these companies rely heavily on external funding.

This was a big reason that big companies did not show any haste in funding vaccine projects.

Producing vaccines in such emergencies in the past has not proved very beneficial. The process of finding a vaccine takes time. Poor countries require a large consignment of vaccine but due to the high price they cannot take it. In rich countries, more profits are made from medicines taken daily.

The companies that manufacture vaccines for diseases like Zika and SARS suffered heavy losses. On the other hand, the market for vaccine for flu like diseases has billions. In such a situation, if the Kovid-19 remains like the flu and it needs to be vaccinated annually, then it can be beneficial for the companies making the vaccine; but only for those companies which will be most effective, as well as in the budget.

What price are they putting?

Some companies do not want to be seen making profit in this time of global crisis, especially after getting so much funding from outside. Major US pharmaceutical companies such as Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca of the UK are working closely with Oxford University-based Biotech Company.

She has promised on her behalf that she will keep the cost of her vaccine as much as possible so that only her cost comes out. As of now, in terms of AstraZeneca, it is believed that it will be available at the cheapest price (4 dollars i.e. around Rs 300 per dose).

Moderna is a small biotechnology company, which has been working on the technology behind RNA vaccine for years. The price of dose against them is more than about 37 dollars i.e. two thousand seven rupees. Their aim is to earn profit for the shareholders of the company.

However, this does not mean that these prices have been fixed.

Usually, pharmaceutical companies pay different fees in different countries. It depends on the governments. AstraZeneca has promised to keep prices low for the epidemic. Maybe they will start charging a comparatively higher price from next year. It completely depends on the nature of the epidemic.

Emily Fields, head of European pharmaceuticals at Barclays, says, “Now the governments of rich countries will pay more. They are so desperate about vaccines or dosages just how they can end the epidemic.”

She adds, “Probably as more vaccines start coming into the market next year, the price of the vaccine may also come down due to competition.”

Rasmus Beck Hansen, Chief Executive of Airfinity, says, “In the meantime, we shouldn’t expect private companies either. Especially companies that are small and don’t sell any other product. So don’t expect them to They will sell the vaccine without thinking about the profits. “

He says, “It has to be kept in mind that these companies have taken a big risk and they have really moved forward.”

He adds, “And if you want these small companies to succeed in the future, then they need to be rewarded in that way.”

But some people differ on the state of humanitarian crisis and public funding. According to him, this is not the time of business as usual.

Should they share their technology?

With so much at stake right now, there is a demand that the entire technology and information behind these vaccines should be shared so that companies in India and South Africa, for example in other countries, have dosed vaccines. To make it in your markets.

“This should be a prerequisite for obtaining public funding,” says Ellen T. Hoen of Medicines Law and Policy.

She says, “When the epidemic started, big pharma companies did not show much enthusiasm about the vaccine. But when the government and agencies came forward with the fund, they had to work on it.”

“They don’t understand why they have the privilege to benefit from the results,” says Hoen.

She says, “These new discoveries later become the personal property of these commercial organizations.”

Although people are sharing some things with each other on an intellectual level, but these are not enough in any case.

So Will Pharma Companies Make Bumper Profits?

Governments and multilateral organizations have already pledged to buy billions of doses at fixed prices. In such a situation, for the next few months, companies will be busy in fulfilling those orders as soon as possible.

People who are selling vaccine doses to rich countries are also expecting returns on their investment. Although AstraZeneca has to supply the most dosage, it will still focus only on meeting the cost.

After the first demand is supplied, it is difficult to predict what the situation will be about the vaccine. Because it depends on many things. For example, those who have been given a vaccine dose remain immune to the corona. How many vaccines are successful and how smoothly the vaccine is manufactured and then distributed.

According to Emily Fields of Barclays, “The opportunities to make profits will be ‘very temporary’.”

Even though people who are currently in the race to make vaccines and are not sharing their intellectual property with others, despite this, 50 such vaccines are being made worldwide which are undergoing clinical trials.

According to Emily Fields, “There may be 20 vaccines in the market in the coming two years. In such a situation it is becoming difficult to get a high price for the vaccine.”

She believes that in the long run, this can have an impact on the company’s reputation. If a vaccine is successful, it can prove to be helpful in opening the door to sale of Kovid treatment or other related products.

Hansen of Airfinity says that if this happens, it can be a relief from the difficult phase of the epidemic.

He expects governments to say that governments should invest in strategizing in the context of epidemics. Just like she is doing now for safety and security.

Among all these, what is the most important and influential thing is that how did the market price of Bio-N-Tech and Moderna suddenly go up. This is because their vaccines prove their concept of RNA technology.

Prior to Kovid, Bio En Tech had been working on a vaccine for skin cancer and on an RANE vaccine for modern ovarian cancer. If any of it succeeds, it will be a huge achievement.