Boston Globe: Drug company insiders are profiting handsomely from the world’s desperate hope for a COVID-19 vaccine

But insiders at companies developing experimental vaccines and treatments to ward off COVID-19 aren’t waiting until they finish the job to collect their reward. Executives, board members, and related investment funds have made fortunes from the dizzying rise in their companies’ stock prices before a single vaccine has proven safe and effective or a game-changing treatment has been approved.

“These drug companies have a great scheme going,” said Eli Zupnick, a spokesman for Accountable.US, a progressive group in Washington, D.C., that says it is committed to exposing corruption. “Taxpayers cover the upfront investment costs and shoulder any downside, while their executives and shareholders can capture the upside if their drugs pan out and are shoveling obscene amounts of money into their pockets throughout the process.”