The coronavirus could help pharma reset its reputation WASHINGTON The coronavirus outbreak could be the pharmaceutical industry's ticket to saving its reputation in Washington. Already, the fervid crusade to contain the epidemic refocused a White House meeting centered on high drug prices onto the industry's ostensibly more commendable work to develop vaccines and therapies that target the virus. Capitalising on the coronavirus crisis could help the industry reshape how Americans view the drug industry before Washington gins up sufficient political support for any of those changes, especially if drug makers don't over promise and don't price their eventual vaccines out of reach, communications experts told STAT. The advent of the coronavirus gives the drug industry the opportunity to talk about something other than drug prices. Sources say that there are more than 20 companies pursuing coronavirus vaccines, therapeutics, or other products and some are in the early stages of developing their own vaccines