One drugmaker has figured out how to pull down $2.52 billion over the next six months off a single disease – here’s how to get your piece of the action.

It could easily have been a headline from the 19th century. “Plague Ship Docks at Marseille: The arrival of the Norwegian flagged “Voyager of the Seas” caused much concern today, as 60 of its crew were found to be suffering from the new influenza virus that is spreading rapidly in Europe, Asia and the Americas. An additional 60 crew members are thought to be showing nascent symptoms of the potentially fatal disease.”

Problem is, this is no historical episode. Last Friday afternoon, when the Royal Caribbean Lines cruise ship destined for Marseille arrived dockside at Villefranche, French officials in masks and gloves scurried aboard and quarantined the entire 1,500-member crew.

Currently, France has some 1,000 confirmed cases of the H1N1 “Swine Flu” virus, …