Booster vaccinations are delighting the vaccine manufacturers

Booster vaccinations against the Covid-19 virus against the background of the increasing spread of the Delta variant are delighting the vaccine manufacturers. According to experts, the two partners Biontech and Pfizer as well as competitor Moderna can expect sales in the billions that exceed previous estimates - especially since they have increased their prices for the vaccine in the USA and elsewhere. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden's administration called on adult Americans who received two doses of the messenger RNA vaccines from Biontech / Pfizer or Moderna to get a third booster dose eight months later. Sanford Bernstein's pharmaceutical analyst Ronny Gal estimates that sales of the vaccine from Pfizer and its partner Biontech will reach $ 74 billion by next year (excluding Germany and Belgium), 17 percent more than previously estimated. At Moderna, sales in this period should amount to $ 35 billion, which would be 25 percent more than previously forecast. The estimates are further evidence that the coronavirus pandemic is proving to be a good opportunity to make money from vaccines. Many pharmaceutical manufacturers had given up the business because the development required high investments and it was only very late that it became clear whether the product would work sufficiently at all. Some of the established vaccine manufacturers have therefore been slow to advance the development of Covid-19 vaccines, while smaller companies with the new technology of messenger RNA delivered vaccines in record time and are now reshaping the vaccine business. Pfizer and Moderna executives have stated that they believe the coronavirus is an endemic virus that will drive demand for Covid-19 vaccines for years to come. Companies have increased production since vaccination started. Booster vaccinations are available for all US citizens, according to US government officials. Pfizer raised its estimate for annual sales of Covid-19 vaccines by 30 percent to $ 33.5 billion in July and is now looking to expand its entire vaccine business using mRNA technology. The market capitalization of mRNA pioneer Moderna, who had no approved product before the pandemic, has meanwhile risen to 149.7 billion dollars, Biontech from Mainz weighs 76.1 billion euros and thus even surpasses the Bayer Group, its Market value is 47 billion euros. Pfizer began filing study data with the U.S. FDA on Monday. Moderna should apply for approval for the booster dose in September. Last week the FDA approved a third vaccination for moderately or severely immunocompromised people.