“猪流感”提振制药公司业绩

Some of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies are reaping billions of dollars in extra revenue amid rising global concern about the growing spread of swine flu.

随着全球对猪流感蔓延的担忧日益加剧，一些世界领先制药公司正因此获得数十亿美元的额外收入。

Analysts expect to see a significant boost in sales from GlaxoSmithKline, Roche and Sanofi-Aventis when they report first half earnings lifted by government contracts for flu vaccines and antiviral medicines.

分析师预计，葛兰素史克(GlaxoSmithKline)、罗氏(Roche)和赛诺菲-安万特(Sanofi-Aventis)的上半年业绩报告将显示，政府购买流感疫苗和抗病毒药物的合同，显著提升这些公司的销售额。

The fresh sales – on top of strong results in recent days from Novartis of Switzerland and Baxter of the US, which both also produce vaccines – come as the latest tallies show more than 740 people have died from the H1N1 virus, and millions have been affected in countries around the world.

瑞士诺华制药(Novartis)与美国百特(Baxter)近日公布了强劲业绩。新增销售公布之际，适逢最新统计数据显示，H1N1病毒已导致逾740人死亡，世界各国有数百万人受感染。

GlaxoSmithKline of the UK alone has confirmed that it had already sold 150m doses of a pandemic flu vaccine – equivalent to its normal sales of seasonal flu vaccine – to countries including the UK, the US, France and Belgium, and was gearing up to boost production.

仅英国的葛兰素史克就证实，已向英国、美国、法国和比利时等国出售了1.5亿剂针对正在爆发的流感病毒的疫苗——相当于该公司季节性流感疫苗的正常销量——并正加紧提高产量。

GSK also produces Relenza, an antiviral medicine that reduces the length and severity of the infection, and is preparing to increase manufacturing towards 60m annual doses. The UK alone placed a fresh order for 10m treatments this year.

葛兰素史克还生产抗病毒药物乐感清(Relenza)，它可以缩短受感染时间，并减轻病情。该公司准备将乐感清产量提高至每年6000万剂。今年，仅英国就开出了1000万剂的新订单。

One principal beneficiary of the growing fears about the pandemic has been Roche of Switzerland, which sells Tamiflu, the leading antiviral drug, and has seen a sharp rise in orders from private companies as well as governments.

对流感大流行日渐加深的恐惧，令瑞士制药公司罗氏成为主要受益者。这家出售领先抗病毒药物达菲(Tamiflu)的公司，接到的私人公司和政府订单都出现锐增。

A research report last week from JPMorgan, the investment bank, estimated that governments had placed nearly 600m doses of pandemic vaccine and adjuvant – a chemical that boosts its efficacy – worth $4.3bn in sales, and there was potential for a further 342m doses worth $2.6bn ahead.

投行摩根大通(JPMorgan)上周的一份研究报告估计，各国政府已订购近6亿剂针对此次流感病毒的疫苗和佐剂（一种可提高疫苗疗效的化学制品），总销售额达到43亿美元，未来可能进一步购买3.42亿剂，价值26亿美元。

It forecast that fresh antiviral sales could boost sales for GSK and Roche by a further $1.8bn in the developed world, and potentially up to $1.2bn from the developing world.

报告预计，来自抗病毒药物的新增销售额，将令葛兰素史克和罗氏在发达国家的销售额进一步提高18亿美元，在发展中国家的销售额也有望提高至多12亿美元。

But there are also uncertainties for the pharmaceutical manufacturers. With demand likely to outstrip supply, and initial production suggesting the yield for the pandemic vaccine is relatively low, they may face difficult choices in determining how much to supply to the different countries seeking orders.

但制药公司也面临着不确定性。由于可能出现供不应求的局面，而且初期生产表明，针对此次流感病毒的疫苗产量相对较低，因此，在确定如何向寻求订购的不同国家分配供应方面，制药公司可能面临艰难选择。

They are also under pressure to provide more drugs and vaccines for free, or extremely cheaply, to the developing world.

制药公司还受到压力，要求他们把更多药品和疫苗免费——或以极低价格——提供给发展中国家。

译者/章晴