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A new report is not only a ringing endorsement of vaccine innovation but also a call for more investment in the vaccine pipeline.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) recently released the report, Vaccines in Development: 2024 Report.
“The eradication of smallpox. The near elimination of diseases like polio and measles. The ability for the world to return to normal after the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout human history, few innovations have held as much transformative power as vaccines,” writes Stephen J. Ubl, President and Chief Executive Officer of PhRMA, in the report introduction.
“Today’s vaccine pipeline holds tremendous promise, too.”
The legacy of vaccines
The world would look much different today if we had never cracked the code on vaccines.
As the report explains, vaccines are responsible for:
- The prevention of more than 1 million deaths over the last 30 years in the U.S. due to childhood vaccines;
- Saving $2.2 trillion in societal costs in the U.S. because of childhood vaccines;
- Preventing more than 18 million hospitalizations, saving nearly 3 million lives, and providing $1.15 trillion in medical cost savings through the use of COVID-19 vaccines in the first two years they were available; and,
- Reducing the risk and severity of vaccine-preventable diseases which cost nearly $27 billion in direct and indirect costs each year among adults over the age of 50.
However, as a January 2024 report by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) explained, while the vaccine pipeline has breadth, it lacks depth. More investment and incentivization are needed to keep the pipeline robust.
What vaccines are in development?
The PhRMA report highlighted a number of innovative vaccines in development, underscoring just how far vaccine innovation has come. These include vaccines to prevent infectious diseases, cancers, allergies, and even Alzheimer’s disease.
Case in point: “A potential first-in-class 9-valent vaccine is being developed for protection against extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC),” the report notes. Indeed, the introduction of vaccines in the battle against antimicrobial resistance (AMR) may be a potential game changer.
Additionally, mRNA technology continues to prove a strong contender in the vaccine pipeline. mRNA offers the highest number of clinical-stage innovations that will continue to address annual COVID and influenza immunization needs in a timely and effective manner.
As another example, first-generation multivalent conjugate vaccines are being developed for protection against meningococcal infections. Though relatively rare to contract, meningococcal diseases often have a 1 in 10 mortality rate, sometimes killing patients in as little as 24 hours, even with treatment.
But more work is needed to bring needed vaccines to the public. As Bio.News reported earlier this year, due to market issues that uniquely affect vaccines, just 10% of infectious disease threats addressed in the vaccine pipeline have 10 or more programs.
“Vaccines have led to a 100% reduction in the risk of death for a host of devastating diseases,” said Phyllis Arthur, BIO’s EVP and Head of Healthcare Policy and Programs. “Yet many common infections don’t have any vaccines in clinical development. That needs to change. We need to pursue both scientific and policy changes that can help spur investment in these vital products.”
How policy can support vaccine innovation
The PhRMA report addressed policy needs to support vaccine innovation.
“As we work to protect public health through vaccine development, we need to also protect the ecosystem that makes this innovation possible. Policymakers can help ensure patients have access to new vaccines by:
- Reauthorizing critical provisions in the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act;
- Protecting intellectual property (IP) to defend American biopharmaceutical research, development, manufacturing and collaboration;
- Asserting that U.S. will defend IP rights abroad and reject any proposals to waive those rights.”
BIO also has four key recommendations to improve the vaccine development pipeline:
- Capitalizing on the use of platform technologies;
- Expanding access to vaccines;
- Rebuilding vaccine confidence worldwide; and,
- Evolving the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NITAG) review processes.
It is key to not only expand investment incentives and economic stability of vaccine development but to also ensure patients have ready access when they need them. Additionally, a number of R&D, manufacturing, distribution, and scientific challenges need to be addressed, too.
Holistic, cooperative partnerships are key to not only ensuring the continued development of vaccines, but also the continued competitiveness of the American vaccine pipeline.
