Vaccine Development Unlikely to Lead to Profits
COVID-19 vaccine and drug developers are in a dilemma. They are wishing to stop the development process in view of the difficulty and the fact that what they develop is unlikely to be profitable. However, they are hesitating to announce ahead of the others for potential criticism from the public.
According to them, the process is not easy because a lot of people are already vaccinated or recovered, that is, there are not many people to participate in clinical trials and volunteers are even less. Another reason is that their developments are unlikely to lead to profits. A large number of COVID-19 vaccines have been approved in various countries, and yet only those of Pfizer and Moderna have been widely used.
At present, a total of seven South Korean companies are working on COVID-19 vaccines. According to experts, that of SK Bioscience, sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and in a pre-approval stage in South Korea, is the only promising one. “The vaccine can be meaningful as South Korea’s first self-developed COVID-19 vaccine and can be supplied to underdeveloped countries,” one of them said, adding, “The same does not apply to the other six in terms of clinical trial schedules and marketability.”
The prospect of COVID-19 drug development is dim, too. “The oral administration products of Pfizer and Merck are already in wide use and doctors will not take a risk,” he went on to say.