When most people think about living during a once in a lifetime event, it mostly involves positive scenarios. For instance, imagine that tomorrow humanity is able to develop a new rocket engine capable of traversing through space and time at the speed of light – suddenly, the entire global landscape will start to change, and life just a decade from now will perhaps be unrecognizable.
Unfortunately, all of us have had the experience of living in a once-in-a-century event that will be remembered for the extreme devastation it caused. If you still haven’t guessed, this event is the coronavirus pandemic – a global virus outbreak that continues to make its mark on our lifestyles and the global economy. This is the fifth deadliest pandemic in human history and the third deadliest of the 20th century – being surpassed only by HIV/AIDS and the Spanish Flu of 1918. Estimates suggest that global excess deaths from COVID-19 sit at 21.9 million. Not only did the virus cause invaluable loss of life, but it also disrupted global financial markets and logistics systems. Such was its impact, that the American stock markets saw their worst week in 2020 since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis that ushered in the Great Recession. For instance, the NASDAQ 100 index which had stood at 9,623 points on February 14, 2020, dropped to 6,994 in March 2020 – a whopping 27% drop!
Yet even though the pandemic was devastating, it could have been much, much worse had it taken place just a couple of decades ago. This is due to the fact that humanity’s response to the pandemic was swift as both small and large drug makers joined forces to develop vaccines that could at the very least reduce the severity of infection and hospitalizations. While on the surface this might seem ineffective since the virus is after all a deadly disease, the fact is the pandemic made this drastic impact because it simply overwhelmed hospitals. Doctors and nurses worked the maximum possible shifts and hospitals were short on beds to accommodate both coronavirus and non-coronavirus patients. By November 2020, more than 77,000 coronavirus patients were hospitalized across America. Not only were hospitals overwhelmed but even morgues were unable to keep up, with several in Texas having to pay prisoners $2 an hour to move bodies of virus victims.
So, the vaccines that reduced the severity of infection were crucial in reducing hospital burdens and bringing life back to normal. But did the vaccines really help? Well, data from The Commonwealth Fund shows that if there was not a vaccination program in America, there would have been an additional 279,000 deaths and 1.25 million additional hospitalizations by June 2021. Additionally, had there been no vaccinations, daily virus deaths would have surged to 4,500 by May 2021 instead of dropping to less than 1,000 during the same time period.
All vaccines substantially lost effectiveness as new virus variants spread, leading to new vaccines being developed. This cat-and-mouse game of chasing the virus has turned out to be a very expensive proposition for the global pandemic response, even as the vaccines did not even reach almost half of the global population.
Only a few drugs became available that worked against the virus, in spite of the tremendous numbers of clinical trials. Of these, only dexamethasone became available early on, being an already well-known drug, and it reduced the severity of delta variant, and saved many lives, as seen from the low fatality rates in India, although it caused severe side effects. Remdesivir was approved early on in hospitalized patients but had limited effectiveness. Antibodies were developed early on, but became ineffective as soon as the next virus variant wave came in. Other two approved drugs, Lagrevio and Paxlovid, came in very late and still others are in clinical trials.
Lack of drugs highlighted the importance of vaccines, but would the pandemic have been so severe if there were drugs that took the bite off the severity of the disease? Pandemic preparedness is important but we forget that when the pandemic goes away, as we have done in the past. Let us not do that again now!
At the same time, even though coronavirus seems to be a thing of the past, as new crises such as a potential default and the Russian invasion of Ukraine have come to the forefront of public attention, companies are still busy developing coronavirus vaccines.
As the COVID pandemic shifts gears and the virus is here to stay, like the other four seasonal coronaviruses, a substantial portion of the population has some immunity to SARS-CoV-2. In the USA, the CDC estimates that over 96% of adults have immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in some form. With this, and with decreased media attention, people believe that COVID is a disease they can live with, like influenza. Consequently, uptake of newer COVID vaccines as the variants escape the older ones, is naturally going to be at a much slower pace than what was seen in 2021. Yet, even today, in the USA, the number of deaths from COVID far exceed the number of deaths from seasonal influenza.
In this new scenario that the world is entering, therapeutics/treatments for coronavirus infections will likely take prominence over vaccines. Why?. In future pandemics, we would not know the virus ahead of time so only broad-spectrum drugs that attack many viruses can be developed for preparedness because vaccines and antibodies require the scientists to know the exact virus and exact strain beforehand, and they lose effectiveness as new virus variants develop.
So, it is clear that there’s still quite a bit of work to be done for COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics/ treatments to bring this pandemic under control and to be prepared to protect the world during potential future pandemics. In today’s piece, we’ll take a look at some companies that are developing these products.
Our Methodology
We first listed down all pharmaceutical companies that are publicly traded and then narrowed down those that are making coronavirus vaccines. Most of these firms are selected according to hedge fund sentiment but others are included too, while others have been removed.
13 COVID-19 Treatment Stocks Hedge Funds Are Betting On
1. Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is a pharmaceutical giant. Its antiviral pill, brand named Lagevrio, could not demonstrate benefits in the treatment of COVID patients who do not need oxygen support and are at risk of their disease worsening, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said in its recommendation against market authorization. The firm is currently looking to appeal the EMA’s rejection.
As of Q1 2023, 75 of the 943 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s database had invested in the firm. Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)’s largest investor is Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management since it owns 12.3 million shares that are worth $1.3 billion.
2. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) is a major pharmaceutical company. Its products cover mental health disorders, blood clots, cancer, and the coronavirus. Pfizer’s COVID vaccine, co-developed with BioNTech, was the first of its kind to be deployed to the market. Based on the same mRNA technology as the Moderna vaccine, it uses a slightly different adjuvant, and was approved a little before the Moderna vaccine. As with all vaccines, new virus variants reduced effectiveness of the prior vaccine, and a new vaccine was developed.
Additionally, Pfizer’s oral drug for treating the COVID infection, Paxlovid, recently received full approval. However, Paxlovid is only approved for adults over age 65 with co-morbidities i.e. risk factors for severe disease.
73 of the 943 hedge funds profiled by Insider Monkey for their first quarter of 2023 portfolios had bought Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)’s shares. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies is the largest investor as it owns 12 million shares that are worth $495 million.
3. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) is another pharmaceutical giant. The firm was set up in 1876 and is named after a veteran of the American Civil War. It makes therapeutics/treatments and medicine for a variety of disorders such as autism, diabetes, epilepsy, and insomnia. Its antibody drugs to treat COVID have been overcome as virus variants developed and have lost emergency use authorization. Although it It still has a drug, Olumiant, that treats the immune effects to soften the disease severity in hospitalized patients.
After looking at 943 hedge funds for their March quarter of 2023 investments, Insider Monkey discovered that 72 had held a stake in the firm. The largest investor is Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management with a $1.4 billion investment.
4. Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)
Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) is a biotechnology company that is set up in 1967. The firm makes treatments for a variety of deadly diseases, such as hepatitis and AIDS. Its coronavirus treatment drug Remdesivir, called Veklury, is fully approved by the US FDA for treatment of hospitalized cases. However, WHO has recommended that it not be used, based on data from general global clinical trials that gathered more real-world experience as compared to the controlled clinical trials that led to its approval.
60 of the 943 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s database had bought Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)’s shares in Q1 2023. Out of these, the largest shareholder is Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies which owns ten million shares that are worth $878 million.
5. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN)
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN) is a biotechnology company focusing its efforts on developing products that increase the efficiency of antibody production in the human body. It’s developing a new coronavirus fighting antibody called REGN14287.
After scouring through 943 hedge funds for this year’s first quarter, Insider Monkey discovered that 54 had invested in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN). Out of these, the largest shareholder is Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group with a $239 million investment.
6. Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)
Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) is a firm that rose to fame due to its Spikevax coronavirus vaccine. Its effectiveness came down significantly as new variants developed in the field. The firm is continuously refining its product.. A new vaccine was rapidly developed containing the mRNA for the original and the Omicron variants, but it had reduced effectiveness.
By the end of March 2023, 40 of the 943 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s research had bought a stake in the firm. Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)’s largest investor is Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management with a $1 billion stake.
7. AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)
AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) is another company that was one of the first that came up with a coronavirus vaccine. It was set up in 1999 and develops treatments for heart, neurological, and other disorders and diseases. The AstraZeneca vaccine, Vaxzevria, was widely used worldwide. It had significant heart-related side effects and was not approved in the USA. AZN also developed an antibody-cocktail, that lost its emergency use authorization as new virus variants spread.
39 of the 943 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s database had invested in the company during Q1 2023. AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)’s largest hedge fund investor is Rajiv Jain’s GQG Partners since it owns 21 million shares that are worth $1.4 billion.
8. GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)
GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) is a renowned pharmaceutical firm. It makes and sells drugs for a host of different diseases such as malaria, bacterial infections, mental health disorders, epilepsy, and others. Its coronavirus vaccine developed in partnership with Sanofi, VidPrevtyn Beta, was approved in the European Union in November 2022 as a booster vaccine.
After digging through 943 hedge funds for their first quarter of 2023 investments, Insider Monkey found out that 33 had held a stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK). Out of these, the largest investor is Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management with a $471 million stake.
9. NanoViricides, Inc. (NYSE:NNVC)
NanoViricides, Inc. (NYSE:NNVC) is an American firm headquartered in Shelton, Connecticut. It is developing the NV-CoV-2 coronavirus drug and is expecting to conduct clinical trials soon.
With the limitations on the available COVID drugs, this is a company to watch for its coronavirus therapeutic treatments and other drug developments. Also, its platform technology for developing broad-spectrum antivirals has now come of age and we root for the company to help the world be prepared for the next pandemic.
Three of the 943 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s database had held a stake in the firm in Q1 2023. Out of these, the largest investor is Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies which owns an $83,000 stake.
10. Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY)
Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) is a French pharmaceutical company that was set up in 1973. The firm makes treatments for diseases including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and more. While Sanofi has discontinued its own COVID-19 treatment, the firm has a partnership with GSK called VidPrevtyn Beta. This drug was recently approved for use in the European Union as a booster vaccine.
After digging through 943 hedge funds for their first quarter of 2023 investments, Insider Monkey discovered that 30 had bought a stake in Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY). Out of these, the firm’s largest investor is Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management with a $727 million stake that comes via 13 million shares.
11. BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX)
The company’s messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine, developed in partnership with Pfizer, was a highly sought after treatment and a novel vaccine developed using new technologies. Based on the same mRNA technology as the Moderna vaccine, it uses a slightly different adjuvant and was approved a little before the Moderna vaccine. As with all vaccines, new virus variants reduced the effectiveness of the prior vaccine, and a new vaccine was developed.
As of Q1 2023, 22 of the 943 hedge funds profiled by Insider Monkey had held a stake in the company. BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX)’s largest hedge fund shareholder is Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies since it owns 509,591 shares that are worth $63 million.
12. Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX)
Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) is an American biotechnology company. The firm was set up in 1987 and it is based in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The firm’s coronavirus vaccine is called Nuvaxovid. . It is in use in over 40 countries. Overall its side effect profile is said to be better than that of the mRNA vaccines. As with all vaccines, new virus variants reduced effectiveness of the vaccine; it appears that the development timeline for a new NovaVax vaccine is significantly longer than that of other vaccines.
After taking a look at 943 hedge funds for their March 2023 investments, Insider Monkey discovered that 12 had bought Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX)’s shares. Himanshu H. Shah’s Shah Capital Management is its largest investor since it owns 4.2 million shares that are worth $29 million.
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