To say that the pandemic was profitable for pharmaceutical companies is something of an understatement. Pfizer (US:PFE) sold $36.7bn (£29bn) worth of its Covid-19 vaccine last year, making up 45 per cent of its total annual revenue, while its profit doubled on 2020 to $21bn. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca (AZN) generated the first sales of its jab on a for-profit basis in the fourth quarter of 2021, for which it reported record-high revenues. It had previously promised to sell it at cost until the pandemic was over.
Almost two-thirds of the global population has now received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, and an increasing number of therapies are available for people who do contract the virus. This means the demand for new Covid vaccines and treatments is shrinking all the time.