Top H1N1 Drug Companies Performance: Effective Marketing

We track the companies that make H1N1-related products on this site.

The top performer year-to-date is BCRX (Biocryst), with a staggering return of 723%, followed by SVA (Sinovac), +492%. At least here in Canada, the few H1N1 deaths have been well publicized, instilling fear and near-panic in the population. Citizens were routinely lining-up for many hours to get their H1N1 flu-shots. Although that there are now shortages of the vaccine, blamed on various reasons, experts are already saying that the peak of the pandemic has passed. Only about 10% of the population was vaccinated so far. Amazingly, officials still say that only the high-risk groups can get the shot.

In Ontario, out of 7,970 patient samples tested of those who had flu symptons, 99.7% have been H1N1 (data as of October 31). The number of deaths is 115 accross the country.

So the question is, can three drug companies find another pandemic or fear so that they can continue to do so well? Are they a case for heavy shorting now? Perhaps our favourite straddles our the best way to play them.

These drug companies certainly are capable of doing very effective marketing. In fact, these companies spend more in marketing than in R&D! Clearly, there is something wrong with this picture.

Here are the current performance charts:






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