Value of Vaccines
Vaccines have eradicated many life-threatening diseases and have provided an unprecedented contribution to global public health. In the first half of this decade, the global vaccine market has developed into an attractive and highly profitable market that has drawn the attention of most, if not all, major pharmaceutical companies. The vaccine market is outperforming the more traditional pharmaceutical markets, and has experienced an annual growth rate of more than 16%, surpassing the 20 billion USD mark in 2010-11. This growth will increase even further with many new innovative vaccines with blockbuster potential likely to reach the market in the coming years. Important growth drivers are the increased public awareness of infectious disease threats, such as seasonal and pandemic influenza, growth in government vaccine financial support, and scientific and technological breakthroughs that improve the efficacy of vaccines, address more challenging diseases and ultimately open up the possibility to develop therapies that fulfill previously unmet medical needs.