News analysis Last week, Pfizer asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to authorize its experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19. Merck’s COVID-19 antiviral pill has already been approved by Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regularly Agency (MHRA), and the company has also applied for approval with the FDA. With a pandemic that has already killed more than 5 million people across the globe, the race to find the most effective, easy-to-use treatments continue. But what do these rapid changes in drug development and new product offerings mean for share prices and revenues for COVID-19 vaccine makers? COVID-19 vaccines have resulted in hundreds of billions of dollars in sales for the drug makers. It is projected that by the end of 2021, Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine sales will touch $36 billion. It has invested time and money in developing the vaccine, and it is believed that it will reap a profit of nearly 30 …