By Erica Teichert
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the vaccine market continues to grow–it’s forecasted to hit $40 billion globally by 2015–there is a greater need for innovation in the field. That’s according to a panel of vaccine experts who spoke yesterday at the 2011 BIO International Convention. “The easy vaccines have been created,” observed Julie Gerberding, President of Merck Vaccines. She highlighted the “four Ds” of vaccine innovation: design, development, delivery and demand, in a discussion of business opportunities in the vaccine industry.
“It’s getting harder and harder for one pharmaceutical company to take on the risk of an entire R&D portfolio,” Gerberding said. And that’s where partnerships and collaborations come into play as a major factor in the “four Ds.” “We’re all looking for the same thing: How to grow our business,” said Donald Beeman, CEO of LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals. That desire fuels collaborations from big and small vaccinemakers, the panelists noted, as well as nonprofits. “I’m really glad there are so many more players, not just at the discovery level,” Gerberding said. “We need really healthy, robust, resilient players at all stages of the game.”
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[Note from SaneVax: Mr. Beeman says it all, “We’re all looking for the same thing: How to grow our business.” From a medical consumer’s perspective, we find it both amazing and appalling that there is not one mention of public health in this article…….seems pharmaceutical companies don’t even need to pretend public health is one of their interests until it comes to marketing their newest ‘breakthroughs’.]
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