FX.co ★ Top 5 pharm tycoons benefiting from COVID-19 pandemic

Stéphane Bancel (France)

Net worth: $1.5 billion

Gains: +109%

Income source: Moderna

Stéphane Bancel is the CEO of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech firm Moderna Therapeutics. The drug-making company was founded in 2011. It obtained a grant worth $483 million from the US government in 2020 with the assignment of developing a vaccine for the coronavirus infection. Bancel fulfilled his pledge having completed successfully the vaccine human trials by the fall 2020. Its effectiveness is estimated at 94.5%.

Gustavo Denegri (Italy)

Net worth: $4.5 billion

Gains: +32%

Income source: DiaSorin

Holding a bachelor's degree in chemistry, Gustavo Denegri decided to buy the ailing biotechnological company DiaSorin in 2000. At that time, the firm produced diagnostic kits for smear tests. In 2020, the company rapidly adjusted its facilities for the production of diagnostic kits to test blood samples for the coronavirus antibodies. Nowadays, the company has production facilities in the UK, Italy, Germany, and the US, having increased sales around the world.

Seo Jung-jin (South Korea)

Net worth: $8.4 billion

Gains: +22%

Income source: Celltrion

The entrepreneur established his own biopharmaceutical firm Celltrion in 2002 in Seoul. Seo Jung-jin took it public six years later in 2008. This year, the company has set about developing its own diagnostic division. Apart from this new direction, the company gives priority to various methods to treat COVID-19. Celltrion has already obtained permission from the authorities to conduct human trials of its antiviral drug.

Alain Mérieux (France)

Net worth: $7.6 billion

Gains: +25%

Income source: BioMérieux

BioMérieux, a multinational biotechnology company, was founded by Alain Mérieux as the diagnostic division within the Institut Mérieux conglomerate which had been created by his grandfather back in 1897. Due to the COVID-19 challenge, the company has to refocus its production on diagnostic solutions which test the coronavirus infection. The production of such kits, including reagents and instruments, was launched in March 2020. This diagnostic system provides results in mere 45 minutes. Such diagnostic kits gained enormous popularity worldwide, thus boosting the wealth of Alain Mérieux.

Maja Oeri (Switzerland)

Net worth: $3.2 billion

Gains: +10%

Income source: Roche

Roche is a well-known Swiss company founded in 1896. Responding to the coronavirus pandemic, the company decided to expand the scope of its activities. In March 2020, Roche announced that it had begun the 3rd stage of trials of the medicine for the arthritis treatment for COVID-19 patients. Moreover, Roche invented and introduced its own serology test to detect antibodies against COVID-19 in patients who have already been exposed to the virus.