Singapore, Feb 29, 2008: Increased global travel has caused several infectious diseases, such as Yellow Fever and West Nile Virus, to surface in developed countries that were previously only common to emerging and underdeveloped areas. This has opened up a channel for vaccine manufacturers to develop products for advanced countries, says new analysis from Frost & Sullivan called “US Infectious Diseases Vaccine Pipeline" which covers an extensive list of 22 diseases.

 

“Relatively unknown diseases have made their way to the top of vaccine developers’ priority lists, enhancing the pipelines for infectious diseases’ vaccines. The developers of these vaccines seek to cash in on the opportunities provided by the spread of diseases through accelerated vaccine development,” said Mr Barath Shankar S, Research Analyst, Frost & Sullivan.

 

Several vaccine pipelines have become very robust for infectious diseases targeted at developing and underdeveloped markets. While vaccine developers feel a sense of responsibility to keep these products affordable in a large-scale market, even basic healthcare has become largely inaccessible in these underdeveloped markets and most often do not attain the funds to acquire vaccines at innovator prices.

 

While vaccine companies could sell in markets where they can obtain optimum prices for their products, it may not be feasible for them to develop in these underdeveloped markets. Doing this could actually deter companies from expanding their manufacturing capacities in order to cater to alternate markets.

 

Mr Shankar said, “Future growth of the vaccines market is tied to its performance in emerging markets, where the need for vaccines is substantial.  Hence, it is important for innovators to partner with companies that have a strong regional presence and the ability to produce vaccicnes at a low cost to ensure affordability.”