[tiwil]

So now I can't help wonder about a conspiracy theory here. As some large pharmaceutical companies are about to make huge sums of money indefinitely.

Don't forget the investment they have to do at first. Yes, at the end of the day, companies always consider about getting profit. They have to do investment first to study the virus then develop the vaccine. Not everyone success even though a ton of money already invested. We also need to consider the risk to study the virus itself. If the scientist miss one of the safety requirement, they may get the virus to them.