Climate change, expected to make several deadly tropical diseases more widespread, will create a business opportunity for some pharmaceutical companies, according to a Morgan Stanley research note cited by Business Insider.
Morgan Stanley estimates that $50 billion to $100 billion worth of vaccines will be needed in 2050 to fight the various diseases that will spread faster and farther as the climate warms.
The investment banking firm analyzed how seven biopharmaceutical companies could benefit from vaccine development for tropical diseases based on their current pipeline and previous successes.
Here is a breakdown:
1. Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline are at the top of Morgan Stanley's list. The two drugmakers are well-positioned because they already have treatments in the works for major tropical diseases and large-scale manufacturing capabilities to distribute the vaccines.
2. Merck and Takeda are also well-positioned, according to Morgan Stanley, because they have vaccines in the works for dengue fever, one of the diseases climate change is likely to exacerbate.
3. Moderna also is in a good position because it has demonstrated a potential pipeline for drugs combating Zika virus.
4. Janssen and Pfizer, while both active in the vaccines market, would need to establish new research programs to take on tropical diseases in order to be successful and profit, according to the report. Both drugmakers have the resources to start such a pipeline, according to the report.