5 companies on the front lines of the coronavirus fight

Amid the stock market roller-coaster ride that began last month, medtech companies that make devices and diagnostic tests vital to fighting COVID-19 may ultimately fare better than others, but it’s hard to tell until the virus peaks and people get back to work.
At midafternoon today, the Medical Design & Outsourcing Medtech 100 Index  was down 21.8% from its close at $91.92 on Feb. 19, the day before the stock market crashed. (The Medtech 100 Index is our new financial index calculated using the Big 100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.)
That compares with the Down Jones Industrial Average, which has plunged more than 35% since the crash. The S&P 500 is down 32.7%.
Demand for supplies such as surgical masks, blood draw and testing systems, IV fluid supplies, pumps and other hospital equipment may help offset some of the general damage done to the shares of companies like Becton Dickinson (NYSE:BDX) and Baxter (NYSE:BAX), according to ISI Evercore analyst Vijay Kumar.
Roche (SWX: RO,  ROG), Danaher (NYSE:DHR), Abbott (NYSE:ABT) and Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) will all likely benefit from the need for their diagnostic tests, and the demand for ventilators should boost Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) and Royal Philips (NYSE:PHG), Kumar told MDO.
Companies that produce devices used in temporarily discouraged elective procedures such as hip and knee replacements and non-trauma spinal procedures will be hurt more, while those that produce devices for cardiovascular procedures will likely see more of a mixed bag, Kumar said. Urgently needed cardiovascular procedures such as transplants, valve replacements and open-heart procedures are still being performed, he explained, but some stenting, implant and electrophysiology procedures are also on hold.
The demand for hospital beds will likely not offset the decline in orthopedic device use for Stryker, which makes both.
Here are five companies that have been in the news for their responses to the pandemic.
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