Over the last few decades, diseases such as Zika, MERS, SARS, and now COVID-19 have had dramatic financial implications for myriad industries. Although recent pandemics and epidemics have been deadly, the mortality rates from these outbreaks are generally far lower than health crises of the past, owing in large part to advances in medicine and infrastructure.

However, the potential economic impacts of today’s health crises can be far greater in scope than earlier ones. The increasing reliance of businesses on technology, frequent and unrestricted travel, and far-reaching supply chains means that an outbreak in a single country can have global repercussions. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) predicted in early March 2020, that the COVID-19 outbreak could cut global GDP growth by 0.5%, costing businesses trillions in economic losses.

Until now, companies have had limited options for protecting their bottom lines from the financial impact of pandemic and epidemic risks. That’s because unlike natural catastrophes and other crises, pandemics and epidemics typically do not cause immediate physical damage — and they’re difficult to model because businesses have had no way to measure their potential economic loss.

To meet the growing concerns and risks surrounding outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics, in 2018 Marsh partnered with Munich Re and Metabiota to create PathogenRX, an integrated pandemic risk quantification and insurance solution that provides financial protection to businesses and their global operations

Using straightforward triggers such as mortality or infections in a defined area, the policy provides indemnity protection that can make an insured whole in the event of a demonstrable loss. The policy can be tailored to the individual client to provide coverage for specific expenses, geographies, types of disease, or portions of a calendar year.

Key benefits include:

• The ability to model and estimate pandemic and epidemic risks through Metabiota’s comprehensive infectious disease database.
• Insurance protection against financial loss stemming from the risk of a pandemic or epidemic to international travel/study-abroad programs, research programs, and related revenue.
• Customizable coverage and retentions.

The target industries for this product are Hospitality & Gaming, Travel & Tourism, Aviation, Public Entity, Education, Real Estate, Sports & Events and Retail/Wholesale Food & Beverage.