As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt companies, some have come out as winners or losers. Developers with COVID-19 therapies and vaccines will benefit in the short term, companies investing in artificial intelligence (AI) and telemedicine could see long-term success, whereas stalled clinical trials could create a work vacuum for contract research organizations (CROs), says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Johanna Swanson, Product Manager at GlobalData, comments: “Teladoc Health has emerged as one of these winners, with its virtual care solutions. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, demand for the company’s telehealth services has more than doubled. The company reported revenues of $180.8m for Q1 2020, an increase of 15.5% over the previous quarter, with website visits more than doubling, as hospitals and healthcare providers sought out telehealth solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

BenevolentAI, a London start-up that specializes in AI, has also emerged as a potential winner. Its AI was used to discover six kinase inhibitors that may work against COVID-19, which includes an already marketed drug, baricitinib. This provides proof of concept of AI speeding pharmaceutical research and helping investigators identify existing drugs that could be used to treat novel diseases.

Moderna has received potential validation of its platform and business model as its COVID-19 vaccine mRNA-1273 has received positive interim Phase I results and the company received a recent Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) investment for up to $483m.

Gilead is another winner with remdesivir named the new standard of care in the US and approved in several countries including Japan, the EU, and Australia, along with manufacturing agreements for remdesivir in 127 countries.

Swanson concludes, “CROs with no manufacturing to fall back on as a buffer may be losers during COVID-19. These include IQVIA, PRA Health Sciences, and Parexel, which is also engaged in sales training, another area negatively impacted by COVID-19. A total of 1,173 clinical trials have been delayed or disrupted, with the majority in oncology and CNS at 29.2% and 18.5%, respectively.”