A year that changed the world – and medical companies’ fortunes

While Covid sent many firms to the wall, others prospered by spotting opportunities, from test kits to mask coatings

The pandemic has taken a heavy toll on business, gutting high streets as familiar names fell into receivership. But for some less well-known firms, the past 18 months have been transformational. Those that have thrived did so by carving out a new niche - with products as varied as Covid sequencing technology kits and surgical masks with virus-killing coatings. We asked some of them about the year everything changed.