Corporate Insiders Pocket $1 Billion in Rush for Coronavirus Vaccine

[Zorro]

Source: New York Times

Well-timed stock bets have generated big profits for senior executives and board members at companies developing vaccines and treatments.

On June 26, a small South San Francisco company called Vaxart made a surprise announcement: A coronavirus vaccine it was working on had been selected by the U.S. government to be part of Operation Warp Speed, the flagship federal initiative to quickly develop drugs to combat Covid-19.

Vaxart’s shares soared. Company insiders, who weeks earlier had received stock options worth a few million dollars, saw the value of those awards increase sixfold. And a hedge fund that partly controlled the company walked away with more than $200 million in instant profits.

The race is on to develop a coronavirus vaccine, and some companies and investors are betting that the winners stand to earn vast profits from selling hundreds of millions — or even billions — of doses to a desperate public.

Across the pharmaceutical and medical industries, senior executives and board members are capitalizing on that dynamic.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/25/business/coronavirus-vaccine-profits-vaxart.html

[benld74]

1. Odds of these unlikely 'companies'

Producing anything more than, instant profits for the few?

[IronLionZion]

2. Selected by the US Government probably means someone is connected

to the administration to receive lots of tax dollars and get rich before Trump loses the election.

[SkyDaddy7]

6. That Instant Reaction Sux!

..."Selected by the US Government probably means someone is connected to the administration..."

...I thought the exact same thing & still do because we KNOW how this corrupt administration the Trump Administration is! Well, IMHO, it's not a corrupt Presidential Administration as much as it is a (dis)Organized Crime Family acting as a Presidential Administration!

...Anyway, the reason I say it "SUX" to have such an instant reaction to such news, at least for me, is this company (& others in same situation) COULD BE legit & was selected on merit alone. However, the fact it is "partly controlled by a hedge fund" is so incredibly TOXIC to me because I know if the vaccine is successful the hedge fund will demand the price of each vaccine be as high as F-ing possible to maximize profits HUMANITY BE DAMNED!!!

...So, without even doing any due diligence I already have enough red flags not to trust them!

[C_eh_N_eh_D_eh]

3. This could turn into a "vaccine bubble".

Developing a new drug or vaccine is always a big financial risk; it requires a lot of up-front investment, and your product might have serious flaws that you don't find until the final stage of testing.

Wait until some of these companies start human trials (I don't think anyone has yet), and see whether we hear anything from them again.

[Roy Rolling]

4. It's Become Apparent...

A vaccine is the next money grab for Trump’s favorite companies. They will milk taxpayers dry for a vaccine, when what’s really needed is at-home testing.

With at-home-testing giving results wishing a few hours maximum, parents would know if their kids need to stay home.

For Gods sake, we have quick DNA tests to identify people they want to lock up, but we don’t have a test to identify deadly viruses on innocent children?

[patphil]

5. You'd think that while they were shoveling billions to Pharma companies to make a vaccine,

they would have done the same for companies to make PPE's, create tests, and evaluate tests.

But we still have insufficient tests to meet the need, and the tests can take a week or more to evaluate.
And, we're still hearing of shortages of PPE's in areas where the pandemic is raging.

The Trump's management of the pandemic is pure shit.