Is Amazon on the Brink of Curing the Common Cold?

Obviously, the talk of the town right now is the coronavirus, but what if online retail giant Amazon can cure something that’s even more widespread—the common cold? Apparently, Amazon has been secretly working on a remedy to eliminate an ailment that affects adults two to three times a year on average.

Aptly named “Project Gesundheit,” if Amazon is successful in creating a cure, it could be the proverbial sneeze heard around the world.

“Amazon’s efforts to develop a cure could be a huge step forward in combating the common cold — and could generate massive savings for the US,” a Business Insider report noted. “Developing a cure for the common cold has been a significant challenge for researchers: In about 75% of cases, the common cold is caused by a class of virus known as rhinovirus, per CNBC, and there are 160 different strains of rhinovirus that scientists have identified.”

“Complicating matters even further, colds are also prone to mutations and can quickly develop resistance to drugs and vaccines,” the report added. “But developing a cure for the common cold would have huge implications on patients’ health and insurers’ bottom lines: The common cold affects millions of US citizens annually, and the rollout of a cure could generate massive savings for health insurers looking to cut down on their share of the $40 billion the common cold costs the US each year.”

AMZN data by YCharts

To read the rest of the report, click here. In the meantime, here are three ETFs to consider with Amazon exposure:

1. Fidelity MSCI Consumer Discretionary Index ETF (FDIS): seeks to provide investment returns that correspond generally to the performance of the MSCI USA IMI Consumer Discretionary Index. The index represents the performance of the consumer discretionary sector in the U.S. equity market.
2. Consumer Discret Sel Sect SPDR ETF (NYSEArca: XLY): seeks investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance of publicly traded equity securities of companies in the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector Index. The index includes securities of companies from the following industries: retail; hotels, restaurants and leisure; textiles, apparel, and luxury goods; household durables; automobiles; auto components; distributors; leisure products; and diversified consumer services.
3. ProShares Online Retail ETF (NYSEArca: ONLN): seeks investment results, before fees and expenses, that track the performance of the ProShares Online Retail Index. The index tracks retailers that principally sell online or through other non-store channels. The index uses a modified market-capitalization weighted approach, is rebalanced monthly and is reconstituted annually.

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