How drug companies will profit from making Covid-19 vaccines

The world has two, and possibly three, Covid-19 vaccines ready to be distributed before the end of the year. In several months, a significant part of the global population will have received at least the first dose of the vaccine, which means the makers—so far Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca—will have collectively sold billions of doses.

While these pharmaceutical companies are filling a desperate public need, they are also corporations with shareholders expecting a return. Manufacturing coronavirus vaccines is a potentially lucrative business, but how much will these companies earn? And...