Pharma Companies Reap the Swine Flu Windfall

[Celebration]

http://www.cnbc.com/id/33450679

Healthcare companies are reaping the benefits of a global swine flu pandemic, brightening what might otherwise have been a dismal third quarter and bringing new focus on the market for vaccines.

Large European pharmaceutical companies are reporting windfall sales from flu drugs and H1N1 vaccines.

Small biotechs are winning fresh attention from investors and governments looking for quick, less expensive ways of making flu vaccines to protect their populations.

And diagnostic companies have been growing revenues as doctors order more flu tests.

"Pretty much everyone who does something in influenza in has gained from it," said Hedwig Kresse, an infectious diseases analyst at Datamonitor in London.

"From a sales perspective, the big players certainly will see a very significant windfall of this pandemic this year," Kresse said in a telephone interview.

[Quantess]

1. Sure, such as Donald Rumsfeld

through his company Tamiflu.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

2. Rummie owns a company called Tamiflu?

[Quantess]

4. He owns stock in the company that makes Tamiflu

http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/tamiflu.asp

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

5. He owns stock in a company that was purchased by Roche.

I really just thought the company called Tamiflu was funny.

[Quantess]

8. That's what happens when someone expresses a tidbit of half-digested information in shorthand.

I had forgotten the name of the company.
Thanks for questioning it. :)

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

11. Happens to everyone from time to time.

[trotsky]

3. Lives are saved, they make money.

Win-win.

[Chemisse]

6. Damn! I should have bought some stocks

Way last spring when the swine flu first emerged.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

7. Buy some in GlaxoSmithKline. Relenza works on H1N1, Avian Flu and seasonal flu.

Almost all the strains of the seasonal flu are resistant to Tamiflu.

[Better Today]

9. After reading this, and the fact that true numbers of actual H1N1 cases

are actually entirely unknowable, nor likely as widespread as feared http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6827636 ,

and I wonder why anyone is bullying or dissing those of us who have been saying all along,

IT'S A BUNCH OF HYPE TO PRODUCE PROFITS FOR PHARMAS.

[uppityperson]

12. on the other hand, US swine flu deaths surpass 1,000, Bonus chart timeline influenza trends...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6847607&mesg_id=6847607

[EvolveOrConvolve]

10. And this is an instance of capitalism working as it should

The companies make a product that is truly useful and saves lives, while we're protected from a dangerous disease. And the companies who risk their capital get a nice return on investment. As Trotsky pointed out upthread: a win-win situation.

For me, it's a no-brainer: a couple of bucks for the shot versus 2 weeks of lost work and productivity. (although, to be fair, I already had the swine flu so the shot is probably overkill for me so I didn't get it; that's one more dose for someone who needs it more than I)

[Robb]

13. Apparently I need to state this in every "big pharma $$$" thread...

The article:

David Kagi, a healthcare analyst at Swiss-based Bank Sarasin & Co estimates pandemic vaccine sales will be worth a total of $7.6 billion, even with a mild pandemic.

A severe pandemic would result in total vaccine sales of $18 billion.

OMG!!11!11elevens. Except, courtesy http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS140811+13-May-2009+BW20090513">Reuters:

The United States has the largest pharmaceutical industry in the world. In 2007, its pharmaceutical revenue totaled at US$ 315 billion.

Again, chump change for the US drug makers. There are easier ways to make what is, in reality, a tiny portion of sales.