With large amounts of cash in hand from exponentially higher sales related to COVID-19, some Chinese med-tech companies are now implementing plans to continue growing in a post-pandemic world.

The emergence of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has sparked a vigorous reaction around the globe, which in the U.S. includes steps taken by the Biden administration to ensure that the roughly 100 million people who have received an initial vaccination regime will receive a booster if eligible. The administration also reported Dec. 2 that it will take steps to ensure that home testing will be covered by private payers, all of which amounts to a massive boost in business for manufacturers of vaccines and tests despite concerns about how the Omicron variant might affect vaccine and test performance.

While the FDA’s reaction to the results of the Nov. 30 advisory hearing for the COVID-19 therapy molnupiravir is difficult to predict, demand for rapid antigen tests may jump considerably when this or any such product is approved. That increased demand could crunch supplies of these tests due to the convergence of any such approvals, the upcoming holiday season, and the 2021-22 flu season, a convergence that could hamper efforts to roll out these new therapies.

LONDON – Cases of the new variant of SARS-CoV-2, which has an unprecedented number of mutations in the spike protein that is the target of most COVID-19 vaccines, have now been reported across Europe and in Canada, following its initial detection in South Africa.