Dreams created in the lab

The search for a cure or treatment, with a low chance of a large return, is rather like prospecting for a precious metal

- Scott Phillips

For the first time since 2020, Covid is not the story of the year; for investors for the world at large. To be sure, it seems as if we're stuck with a new endemic virus. And healthcare professionals seem nowhere near as blasé as the rest of us, on average, have become. But, thanks to competing priorities and short attention spans, our society has largely moved on.

And yet, the experience of, and response to, Covid has been profound - as a society, but also for healthcare. The very idea of mRNA-based vaccines, for so long a dream with an unknown timeline, became real - and really useful - in 2021. And most of us learned more than we ever thought we would about medical devices, the cost of care, and the fragility of supply chains - health and otherwise.

In some ways, it was the acceleration of an existing trend.

For a long time, the growth in health spending has outstripped average government spending, as we live longer, diagnose better and develop increasingly impressive and costly - treatment regimes.

Foolish takeaway