PANIC PAYOUT: ( From top) Manufacturers of drugs like Tamiflu are raking it in while people, such as the anxious residents of Pune, queue up to get themselves tested for swine flu

‘Everybody loves a good epidemic’ seems to be a book waiting to be written. A virus which jumped from pigs to humans in Mexico in March this year may have shaken the masses, but some businessmen are laughing their way to the bank.

Producers across the world are doing all that they can to come up with products — antivirals, speciality chemicals, protection masks and personal hygiene products — that block the virus. In India, the widespread panic sparked by the tragic death of a 14-year-old girl in Pune last week has created an overwhelming demand for them.

Here is an account of all those who will reap the benefits of this bonanza.

Drug companies

Yes, pharmaceutical companies care. But apart from taking pride in the fact that they are doing more than their bit to counter the flu, companies that produce Tamiflu or Relenza, the only drugs which can stop the latest viral infection in its tracks, can also look forward to a healthy balance sheet at the end of the financial year. The US-based Gilead Sciences, which developed Oseltamivir and licensed it to Roche Pharmaceuticals to be sold under the brand name Tamiflu, is going great guns. Business analysts say Roche pays Gilead a royalty of 20 per cent on Tamiflu which is priced at $60 for a strip of 10 in the global market. In May, Roche indicated that it might produce 110 million courses (a course is 10 capsules) over the next five months to help the world tide over the crisis. According to analysts, Gilead may rake in as much as $300 million in 2009 and potentially another $300 million next year, if the pandemic continues.

In India, apart from Roche’s own subsidiary Roche India, Hyderabad-based Hetero Drugs, Cipla and Ranbaxy are the main manufacturers of Tamiflu. With the government already increasing its stockpile from one million doses to 10 million, the drug companies are on an overdrive. And there’s more coming, for the government has decided to stock enough Tamiflu to treat 1,000 people in every district, and 10,000 people in all cities that have a population of 1 million or more. “This would mean an additional supply of 72 lakh doses of Tamiflu,” says Vineet Chowdhury, the health ministry’s point man for the swine flu pandemic plan. Each strip of Tamiflu costs Rs 1,000 in India.

Elsewhere too, the flu has triggered hectic activity. Scientists — and companies — are rushing to develop a vaccine against the flu. The vaccine race is spearheaded by British pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). In India, three vaccine manufacturers, including Bharat Biotech India Limited, have received virus strains from the World Health Organisation for developing a vaccine.

Speciality chemicals companies

Tamiflu makers are not the only ones raking in the moolah. The tests for swine flu translate into money. Indian labs have tested more than 3,300 samples, out of which more than 700 swabs turned out to be swine flu infected. So far, one company — the US-based Life Technologies Inc — has been supplying material for the tests in India.

The health ministry, however, has decided to rope in another German firm. Currently the National Institute of Virology and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases in New Delhi have the chemicals for testing 5,000 samples each, Naresh Dayal, secretary, ministry of health, told journalists. Besides, there are 18 other newly designated government laboratories with stocks for 300 tests each. In addition, the government says it has placed orders for material required for an additional 22,000 tests.

Face mask manufacturers

In Calcutta, Premium Healthcare Disposables Private Limited, a manufacturer of face masks, has been running its factory day and night to meet the surge in demand. “We have been forced to work in shifts to meet the requirement for the masks, especially from western India,” says managing director Ashok Kumar Shaw. A disposable face mask costs around Rs 10.

Indeed, Ozzie Fernandes, owner of Fernandes Medicals, Pune, has depleted his stock. “There are no masks in the market. If I had 100 masks today, they would all be sold,” he says. Ajay Gupta, president of the All Delhi Chemists’ Association, points out that the city has seen a 20-25 per cent increase in sales of face masks following the Pune death.

The spike in demand is helping industries down the line as well. Says Harsh Agarwal of Harsh Polyfabric Pvt Ltd, Calcutta, a supplier of material used in making face masks: “We used to sell enough material to make around two lakh masks a month before the outbreak of swine flu.” The demand has now almost doubled.

Pathology labs

So far, swine flu tests were being conducted by government labs. But the government has now decided to allow accredited private laboratories meeting high safety standards to conduct the tests. Pathological labs are to fix their own price for the test. Dayal says that once a lab establishes its effectiveness in accurately conducting the tests, the government is willing to distribute Tamiflu to patients based on their tests for free.

Chemists

Chemists are a happy lot. Though they can’t sell Tamiflu — only government hospitals have access to that — they can do brisk business in other products such as sanitisers, face masks, and thermometers. The smart ones have already found a way to up their sales: by putting together products that help combat flu and selling them as a kit. The Delhi-based Religare Wellness, a pharmacy chain, is selling a kit consisting of a thermometer, paracetamol, sanitiser, wipes, face mask and handwash. “There has been a 300-500 per cent increase in the demand for these products in Pune and Delhi after the Pune incident,” says Religare Wellness CEO Rahul Chaddha.

Others

Others are trying to piggy back on the swine flu campaign to spread awareness — and in the process rev up their sales. Hindustan Unilever, which owns Lifebuoy soap, flew down its global handwashing expert Myriam Sidibe from London to address a swine flu awareness rally in Hyderabad immediately after the first suspected case of swine flu case in May. She exhorted the participants to wash hands at least five times a day to make India “a healthy Hindustan”.

Crocin may have a limited role in fighting swine flu as a drug. But GSK’s two-year-old campaign for the drug Crocin Cold Flu seems to have got a dustoff in the aftermath of the outbreak. Many public transport buses in New Delhi these days sport a billboard, with a fresh coat of paint, advertising the drug.

Public health experts have been crying themselves hoarse to reiterate that the virus generally causes only a mild flu. “This is still a low virulence organism that is easily transmissible,” says K. Srinath Reddy, president, Public Health Foundation of India. “You’ll need to test and treat a very large number of people to save one life. You shouldn’t have a high panic response eroding health care resources.” Sure, but who’s listening?