Kids vaccines market set to quadruple!

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http://tinyurl.com/23f296Kids' vaccine market set to quadrupleBy Anna Lewcock, Drug Researcher.com20/11/2007 - A recent report suggests that the market for paediatricand adolescent vaccines is set to grow four-fold over the nextdecade, spearheaded by Wyeth's Prevnar as the first blockbustervaccine.The Datamonitor report cites the success of Prevnar, the firstvaccine approved for the prevention of pneumococcal disease ininfants, as evidence that high-priced vaccines targeting teens andinfants are likely to become increasingly prominent in pharmapipelines.Prevnar commanded global sales of $1.9bn in 2006, and althoughexpensive at almost $320 for the four-dose regime, the reportauthors say "its high price has been accepted by governments due tothe vaccine's good cost-benefit profile."Wyeth's pricing strategy has paved the way for increasing toleranceof high product prices in the paediatric vaccines sector."In 2006 paediatric and adolescent vaccines in the seven majormarkets were worth approximately $4.3bn, but thanks to new high-price vaccines promising significant health benefits, Datamonitorexpects this figure to increase substantially, hitting over $16bn by2016.Recent events support the Datamonitor predictions, with Merck'shuman papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil garnering huge publicattention and putting pressure on health authorities to make theshot available to teenage girls.GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) competing vaccine, Cervarix, was alsoapproved in September, and though both products are pricey,vaccination against HPV has been recommended across the US andEurope.Indeed, on October 26, the UK's Department of Health announced thatHPV vaccination was to be made part of the national immunisationprogramme for 12-13 year old girls from September 2008, with a twoyear catch up campaign to start the following year to cover girls upto 18 years.As a result of the high profile these cancer vaccines have gainedin the public consciousness, along with the "exciting opportunity tovaccinate against cancer," Datamonitor sees a huge commercialopportunity for HPV vaccines.The report predicts annual cohort sales of $1.4bn in teenage girlsin the seven major markets of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and theUK by 2016, along with the potential of a cumulative catch-upopportunity for girls aged 13-26 that could add a further $17bn.While HPV is currently taking centre stage in terms of awareness ofhigh price vaccines, Prevnar (approved in the US in 2000) was thefirst vaccine with true blockbuster status, and has prompted thedevelopment of other high valent candidates to protect a broaderrange of S. pneumoniae serotypes.With Wyeth and GSK are both working on such vaccines due to enterthe market from 2009, Datamonitor expects the total value of theinfant market for pneumococcal vaccines to increase to $2.3bn by2016 across the US, Japan and the EU 'big five' of France, Germany,Italy, Spain and the UK.As well as the opportunities apparent in the HPV and pneumococcalvaccine sectors, the report also highlights meningitis as apotential high growth area, with Gardasil and Cervarix paving theway for adolescent indications and targeting a large population withnotoriously low immunisation rates.A particularly lucrative opportunity would be the development of avaccine against infections with N. meningitides B, according to thereport authors, with an estimated $1.9bn in annual cohort sales and$10.7bn in catch-up sales until 2016.However, the report highlights the fact that not all high-pricevaccines will necessarily see the enviable uptake of Prevnar orGardasil, and that it is crucial that manufacturers appreciate thatthe key to success lies in a product's introduction into nationalimmunisation schedules.As such, medical need for the vaccination is clearly a centralcriterion, and according to Datamonitor forms part of theexplanation as to why Merck and GSK's rotavirus vaccines have seenrelatively limited uptake.With quick and efficacious treatments for rotavirus diarrhoea ininfants already available, health authorities see little need tointroduce such costly vaccines. As such, the report authors expecttotal annual sales of rotavirus vaccines to remain limited to around$1bn by 2016, driven largely by the US - the one nation among theseven major markets to have recommended rotavirus vaccination ininfants."The new premium-priced vaccines multiply the costs of infantvaccination and pose a significant challenge for budget-constrainedhealthcare authorities and providers," report author Hedwig Kressesays."Vaccine manufacturers need to focus on real medical needs as wellas on improving public education in order to ensure commercialsuccess for their products."

 

 

 

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