Flu Season: Where Investors Can Find Relief

A look at the many companies that benefit from flu sufferers' ills

Jan 7, 2013, 9:05 am EDT | By Alyssa Oursler, InvestorPlace Assistant Editor

Flu Vaccine

It’s a little late to get a flu vaccine, considering the season is already well under way, but a few companies are still providing flu shots and will vaccinate the stragglers. Novartis (NYSE:NVS) had a scare back in October with its flu vaccine, but it remains a leading name in the vaccine world with products like Agrippal, Fluad, Fluvirin and Flucelvax.

French pharmaceutical company Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) makes a variety of vaccines — including Fluzone, Intanza, Panenza, Humenza and Vaxigrip. Fluzone alone was expected to bring in over $1.3 billion globally in 2012.

Another major player is GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK), which manufactures Fluarix and FluLaval. And companies like Merck (NYSE:MRK) and AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) get in on the action through subsidiaries, as InvestorPlace contributor James Brumley explained last month.