The people plagued by the lockdown can breathe a little: several countries have recently begun easing the stay-at-home restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic. In Switzerland, the second stage of relaxation comes into force on 11 May. On that date schools will resume, museums, libraries and restaurants will reopen and grassroots sport will again be allowed, among other measures. All the loosening is subject to the proviso that protection concepts are implemented and observed and, of course, that the number of new infections does not shoot up again. "Switzerland still finds itself in an extraordinary situation," the Bundesrat, or parliament, has stated. It is not only here that the fight against the novel corona virus continues unabated, though, but across the world. The pharmaceutical industry will play a key role in containing the pandemic. The sector is supplying Covid-19 tests while at the same time looking for drugs and vaccines.
The health industry has recently been able to outline its worth on the stock market thanks to its strategic importance. Although pharmaceutical shares were initially unable to avoid the sell-off triggered by the increasing outbreak of coronavirus, the fall in the MSCI World Health Care Sector Index is turning out to be much lower than that in the global benchmark of the same index provider (see graph). The pharmaceutical sector has ramped up its diagnostic capacities at lightning speed. Taking the USA as an example, more than 7 million Covid-19 tests have now been carried out in the States. According to the "Our World in Data" portal, the number of daily tests in the USA reached a peak of more than 314,182 on 22 April. Four weeks previously, fewer than 45,000 swabs a day were being analysed for the virus. View more information on investment solutions on the topic “Pharmaceutical Industry: At the interface to the future”.
The search for a drug to treat Covid-19 is also well under way. Gilead in particular has recently attracted attention in this regard, with the US group offering a harbinger of hope through its Remdesivir drug. This preparation was actually developed for the treatment of Ebola, but failed to have an impact. Laboratory tests now suggest that Remdesivir is helpful in the treatment of Covid-19. Patients who were struggling with lung problems and were treated with this product were able to be discharged from hospital sooner than those participants in the study who were given a placebo. As a result, the USA has allowed the limited use of the active agent for Covid-19 patients in hospitals. It is not only the possible effect of Gilead's product that many different bodies are examining: the hunt for a preparation is in full swing across the world. This is demonstrated by a search for the term "Covid-19" on the "Clinicaltrials.gov" platform, according to which 183 studies are already in clinical phase 3. More than 300 further trials are in an earlier stage of progress.
These also include possible vaccines, with scientists working on the development of around 100 potential candidates. At least five of them have reached phase 1 and are being trialled on humans. According to Statista, only three months elapsed between the deciphering of the genetic sequence of Covid-19 and the first study on humans. When Sars was raging in 2003, this period stretched to 20 months (see graph). This discrepancy is as much a demonstration of the enormous scientific progress made since then as the innovative capacity of the pharmaceutical sector. It is still unclear whether and when further active agents or the first vaccines will come onto the market. What is certain, though, is that pharmaceutical and biotech companies especially are at the interface to the path into the future – for which reason alone they should remain in the focus of the stock market.
