According to WHO, number of deaths caused by dengue virus was 297, 873 in 2012 and 159 per million in low income, lower-middle income and upper-middle income regions. With the spread of such diseases, the global vaccines market is growing at a rapid pace all around the world. The spread of diseases has caused the need for various innovations. The vaccine industry players such as GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi‐Pasteur, Pfizer and Merck among others have joined hands with UNICEF for the investments and technologies to improve and develop new vaccines. More than 120 vaccines have been developed in the pipeline by leading manufacturers around the world. Some of these vaccines are Chikungunya, HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Intra-Nasal influenza, Dengue.  Lately manufacturers have introduced vaccines which are age specific and target the old people. For example: Merck’s Shingles vaccine.

The contribution made by companies in the global vaccine market is:

• GSK (GSK): 27.2%
• Sanofi Aventis: 22.60%
• Merck (MRK): 17.7%
• Pfizer (PFE): 13.9%
• Novartis (NVS): 11.3%
• Sanofi Pasteur: 7.4%

Stagnation in Research Funds Since 2008

New vaccine development from the combination of new science (genomics and proteomics), new approaches (DNA vaccines, new combination vaccines, new formulations, novel delivery routes, new adjuvants) and new needs (defence vaccines) for potential use in human medicine is buoyant in the vaccine market. But, stagnation in Research Funds hinders vaccine market growth. For instance, HIV vaccine research makes up more than half of all R&D spending on the disease: USD 652 million, or 60 %, in 2014. Malaria vaccine research received a large bump in 2014, increasing its share of R&D funding from USD 120 million to USD 173 million, following several years of declining investment. Several vaccine candidates in clinical development are still at phase II stage, targeting infants and young children, or as potential boosters for the BCG vaccine. Along with HIV and malaria, TB vaccine research has also suffered consecutive declines in funding since the beginning of the decade. Sustainable and sufficient funding, coherent investment strategy and support for innovation across the development cycle can be solutions to this stagnation.

Vaccine Market Overview

Vaccine market is relatively small in comparison to pharmaceuticals market and is concentrated on supply and demand sides. Global vaccine market is highly regulated and to a great extent reliant on on public purchasers and donor policies. Demand side vaccine market is driven by governments of industrialized and developing countries, pooled procurement agencies, the private sector, and the various regulatory and advisory bodies overseeing vaccine quality and safety. On supply side, it is comprised of individual markets for individual vaccine types each with their own specificities. According to latest study published by Goldstein Research, the global vaccine market size reached USD 40.1 billion in 2017 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.2% through 2025 to reach a market size of USD 100 billion. Next generation vaccines (HIV, Ebola, Obesity, Plague, Obesity, etc) tends to rule the market in the future on the basis of technologies reviewed targeting delivery devices, packaging and formulation.

Regional Outlook

North America dominated the global human vaccines market in 2017, accounting for about 42.5% of the total revenue. High Income Countries (HICs) comprises 81.8% of global vaccine sales in terms of value, corresponding to about 20% of the annual volume of vaccines sold. Africa region is witnessing the considerable growth in vaccine market owing to the government regulations and investments from the major players. 

Globally, vaccination rate tends to rise, however wide discrepancies will remain from region to region. For instance, almost 50 million infants worldwide had not been vaccinated against DPT3, with almost 75% of those living in India, China, Nigeria, Indonesia, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Congo, Sudan, Bangladesh, and the Philippines.