When US President Joe Biden announced that the pandemic was over in a televised interview in September 2022, shares of Moderna and BioNTech swiftly dropped in value by up to 9 percent. This wiped more than US$10bn off the market value of the two Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers.
Despite this they remain among the world’s largest producers of vaccines, alongside the eight others this article outlines.
1. Pfizer
The partnership between Pfizer and BioNTech which yielded one of the first approved vaccines for Covid-19 elevated the company’s revenue and profile dramatically. Now called Comirnaty, the vaccine has recently been authorized for use among infants aged six months old and up.
While Comirnaty is its most well-known vaccine, Pfizer has also developed vaccinations for pneumonia, smallpox and polio. It began its collaboration with BioNTech in 2018, to research mRNA vaccines to treat influenza.
In 2015 the company acquired two vaccines that protect against meningitis from GSK.
2. BioNTech
Building on the technology it developed to create the Covid-19 vaccine with Pfizer, BioNTech is currently studying possible uses to treat melanoma among other forms of cancer.
Through its FixVac (which stands for ‘fixed vaccine’) platform, BioNTech is leveraging antigens specific to each type of cancer, particularly targeting patients with advanced, hard-to-treat disease.
Initial clinical trials began before the pandemic and are showing positive results, with BioNTech founder Uğur Şahin stating that an effective cancer vaccine could be ready as soon as 2030.
3. Sinovac
Chinese firm Sinovac had a record year in 2021, quadrupling its sales thanks to its Covid-19 vaccine CoronaVac, the main vaccine administered to the population of China.
Meanwhile clinical trials of an omicron-focused booster shot are set to begin in China and Chile and the company is also developing a vaccine which will target three strains of the virus at once: the original coronavirus and delta and omicron variants.
In 2009 Sinovac became the first company to gain approval for a vaccine for the H1N1 strain of influenza. It has also developed immunizations for hepatitis A and B, mumps and has entered the veterinary market with a vaccine for animal rabies. animals.
4. Moderna
Another key Covid-19 vaccine manufacturer, Moderna has been focusing most of its business on vaccine development since 2014. Earlier this month the US biotech firm announced findings showing that its booster shot targeting the omicron variant produced an even stronger immune response than its original Covid-19 vaccine. It is set to play an important role in booster programs this winter.
In 2014 Moderna partnered with AstraZeneca on a record deal worth US$240mn – the highest amount paid to a biotech that had never tested its products on humans. While it has since sold its shares, the two companies continue to work together on mRNA vaccines targeting tumors and cardiovascular illness.
5. Merck & Co.
The first company featured on our list which does not have a Covid-19 vaccine, Merck & Co. was once upon a time the world’s biggest vaccine producer until the pandemic came along.
Its blockbuster product is Gardasil, a vaccine for HPV including strains that are responsible for causing around 70 percent of cervical cancers.
Merck also produces vaccines for hepatitis A, measles, mumps, chickenpox and rotavirus, a stomach bug which primarily affects young children.
6. GSK
The British big pharma company developed the world’s first malaria vaccine in 2014. In September 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) awarded it prequalification for it to be rolled out in countries where transmission of the disease is high. The company is also working on technology transfer to enable large quantities of the vaccine to be produced in India.
GSK’s other vaccines treat hepatitis A and B, influenza, shingles, measles, mumps and rotavirus. Additionally the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently approved a single-vial version of GSK’s meningitis vaccine Menveo, which it hopes will be more convenient to administer than the original two-vial injection.
7. Sanofi
Sanofi is the world’s biggest manufacturer of flu vaccines, which in 2021 brought the company US$3.1bn in revenue. A partnership with GSK on producing a coronavirus vaccine has yet to come to fruition, however, in February 2022 Sanofi announced it was seeking regulatory approval from the FDA. This comes after Phase III clinical trials showed it had 100 percent efficacy against severe Covid-19 and hospitalizations.
Sanofi’s other vaccines target meningitis and children’s polio.
8. AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca was among the first Covid-19 vaccine producers, however, its rollout was plagued by supply issues and the potential risk of developing blood clots. CEO Pascal Soriot has since said the company may cease vaccine production entirely.
Despite this, in July 2022 the company announced it was launching a number of mobile clinics in Kenya to boost uptake of its vaccine.
9. Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine was unique due to only requiring one dose, however, immunity from Moderna and Pfizer’s vaccines was shown to be higher.
Meanwhile its Ebola vaccine has proven to be highly effective at neutralizing the disease but requires two doses, making it unsuitable for an emergency rollout where transmission is particularly high.
Since 2018, the company has been focused on developing immunizations for HIV, respiratory syncytial virus, Zika and influenza
10. Bavarian Nordic
Earlier this year Danish manufacturer Bavarian Nordic A/S became the first to receive approval for a monkeypox vaccine. Imvanex, initially developed for smallpox, was found to give people enough antibodies to protect them against monkeypox after two doses.
Shortly after the WHO declared monkeypox a global health emergency, the pharma company received permission from the European Commission to officially label Imvanex as a suitable treatment in the European Union. It is also approved for use in the US and Canada where is it known as Jynneos and Imvamune respectively.
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