Studies by the manufacturers of corona vaccines suggest that refreshments will soon be necessary.
Biontech & Co. deserve a golden nose.
Munich - The corona pandemic * is developing splendidly for pharmaceutical companies such as Biontech or Moderna. What sounds cynical is understandable from a company perspective. Since the reports about the first corona vaccines, the shares of some bio-tech companies have exploded. As the
Handelsblatt
reports, after a share rally yesterday (August 4th), Biontech has risen to over 100 billion dollars (84.2 billion euros). The Mainz company is thus rated higher than BMW or Deutsche Bank combined. Competitor Moderna was even able to increase its market value to a staggering 140 billion dollars.
Whether and when the hype about Moderna, Biontech or Pfizer shares will come to a standstill is currently still completely open.
Manufacturers also benefit from their own shortcomings in their vaccines.
Because these do not offer perfect protection, at least a second vaccination is required as things stand today.
But even this does not offer one hundred percent protection against the risk of infection, and at the same time the antibodies seem to decrease after a while.
Biontech: EU orders vaccine doses for almost 35 billion euros
Therefore, third, fourth or even fifth vaccinations are now being discussed.
According to the manufacturer, these should increase the number of antibodies in the blood tenfold.
Above all, risk groups such as the elderly or those with health problems are likely to be among the first to receive a refresher.
The EU has already released huge sums of money for this.
As
Spiegel
reports, Biontech alone received an order for 1.8 billion vaccine doses at a price of almost 35 billion euros.
The vaccination doses ordered are intended to freshen up or protect against new variants.
The EU no longer wants to put up with the accusation of oversleeping orders and current developments and thereby risking the health of its citizens.
Corona vaccine: manufacturer's quasi-monopoly
The current pricing is also responsible for the sharp rise in pharmaceutical stocks. Here the manufacturers are playing off the fact that they have a quasi-monopoly on the vaccine. Important sections of the mRNA production process are patented and may not be used by competitors. For this there is, among other things, the backing of the German government and the EU Commission, which refuse to make the patents publicly available. There is criticism from the United States, of all places.
This is also reflected in the price: The Biontech / Pfizer preparation "Comirnaty" is now sold for 19.50 euros per vaccination, originally it was 15.50 euros per dose.
The same applies to the Moderna preparation "Spikevax": According to the
Financial Times,
EUR 21.50 instead of EUR 19 will be due here in the future.
And this even though the initial costs for research or new equipment have long been amortized.
Curevac: only serious competition?
The only serious competitor in the mRNA segment is likely to be the Tübingen-based manufacturer Curevac.
But this is lagging behind.
The vaccine is by no means as effective as the vaccines of the competitors, the share gave way and the capital for new research is nowhere near as high as Biontech / Pfizer or Moderna, for example.
Meanwhile, they are already researching the next box office hit: According to
Spiegel,
all three companies are working
on the next generation of mRNA vaccines against corona, but also against various other infectious diseases such as malaria.
Pharmaceutical industry: development is only just beginning
The pharmaceutical sector will therefore remain extremely interesting for investors. If you believe the analyzes of the investment bank Morgan Stanley, the rise of the pharmaceutical companies is far from over. The bank estimates that Biontech alone with "Comirnaty" will generate over 56 billion dollars in the next two years, Moderna with "Spikevax" 38.5 billion. And that although it has not yet been determined whether an annual refreshment with the preparation is needed. So rosy times for pharmaceutical companies and investors in times of the corona pandemic.
* Merkur.de is part of IPPEN-MEDIA