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by Tyler Durden
Now that Pfizer and Moderna have proven how profitable the vaccine business is during a global pandemic, pharmaceutical companies around the world are rushing to prepare for the resurgence of mutated COVID-19, or perhaps some new viruses, says Dr. Anthony Fauci and others acknowledge SARS-CoV-2 Perhaps he escaped from a Chinese lab, rather than out of the wilderness.
In a report published Monday, Bloomberg noted To the efforts of GlaxoSmithKline, which is investing in its vaccine business in order to advance the next pandemic, while continuing to develop the next generation of COVID-19 vaccines (given that its international production capabilities can give it an advantage in catering to the evolving world).
It’s just the latest indication of this President Biden’s support for the World Trade Organization’s proposal to waive IP protection for COVID vaccines is mostly just rhetoricAnd that the pharmaceutical industry will do everything it can to stop it.
Moreover, GSK is in talks with the British government for further vaccine development and research capabilities, along with production, according to the company’s head of vaccines, Roger Connor. In an interview, he said that these laboratories would be equipped with “vaccine technologies to confront lethal future viruses.” At the moment, Glaxo’s main vaccine R&D centers are located in Belgium, Italy, and the United States.
Connor said: “When every government reviews the subsequent measures of this epidemic, it will start to think about manufacturing within its borders, or at least within its own region.” We want to “create a capacity to manufacture in-country and develop vaccines for the future.”
GSK and its hedge fund backers, including Paul Singer’s Elliott Management, are in the process of splitting up the company’s consumer health division next year and leaving its arms in the field of biopharmaceuticals and vaccines, businesses that Connor describes as the company’s “crown jewels”.
Whether the next pandemic is bird flu, or Ebola, Connor says GlaxoSmithKline will be ready: “We have one of the broadest range of technology platforms for any vaccine company,” he said. To prepare for a future pandemic, “You have to have a complete ending, you need a whole lot, you need a technical choice, you need an R&D engine well connected to academia, government monitoring of virus evolution, and GSK brings all of these things.”
Of course, the best-case scenario for GSK is for its current COVID-jab trials to lead to approval by the end of the year, leaving it with ample time to tap into the massive international market for next-generation vaccines, which would require a proposal to waive IP vaccines for failure.
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GSK and its partner Sanofi plan to start advanced trials with more than 37,000 people in the coming weeks, with multiple formulations of the vaccine to better protect against variants such as those first found in South Africa and India. Connor said the studies will mostly be outside the United States and focus on geographical areas with high infection rates to give “every chance for the trial to succeed.”
“Yes, there are others who are gaining more from Covid in the short term,” Connor said. “However, when we look at the total portfolio, innovation and current assets that we have, we believe that they are stronger than everyone else and are undervalued a little less at the moment.”
Even before COVID, the company’s vaccine revenues were skyrocketing, having jumped 50% in a four-year period. The Shingles Shingles vaccine is one of the company’s biggest products, and Connor says other products are also popular in the making, including respiratory syncytial virus vaccines for older adults and expectant mothers, in advanced trials.
To sum up: Anyone looking to invest in a company well positioned to fight the upcoming pandemic should give GSK a look.
Source: Zero hedge
