Landmark Agreement to Supply Developing Nations with Pneumococcal Vaccines

GlaxoSmithKline (Brentford, United Kingdom) and Pfizer (New York, NY, USA) will supply 600 million doses of reduced-price pneumococcal vaccines to developing countries over 10 years.

According to a press release by the global alliance for vaccines and immunization (GAVI; Geneva, Switzerland), the pharmaceutical companies have signed an advance market commitment (AMC) that will guarantee markets for vaccines supplied to poor nations, but sets a maximum price the companies can expect to receive. Under the agreement, Pfizer will supply up to 300 million doses of Prevnar 13, and GlaxoSmithKline will provide a matching 300 million doses of Synflorix over a 10-year period. A designated 20% of the supply will cost US$7 a dose, and the remainder will cost $3.50 a dose; this compares to the developed market price, which range from $54 to $108 a dose.

GAVI, together with the recipient countries, will pay for the reduced-rate vaccines. To date, GAVI has received initial funding of $1.5 billion from the governments of Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, Russia, Norway, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help launch the program. However, another $1.5 billion need to be raised by 2015 to pay for the procurement and distribution of the vaccines over the entire 10-year life of the program.

"Today's landmark announcement promises to make new vaccines available affordably, where they are urgently needed, and faster than ever before,” said Dr. Julian Lob-Levyt, CEO of GAVI. "Through this AMC and thanks to the political will demonstrated by donors and least developed nations and the participation of the pharmaceutical companies, prevention against the world's biggest childhood killer is now within reach.”

"The AMC is precisely the sort of innovative model needed to accelerate access to vaccines for people living in the poorest countries,” said Andrew Witty, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline. "The typical 15-20 year 'vaccine gap' between access in developed countries versus the world's poorest countries is unacceptable. This AMC means children in Africa will start to receive Synflorix this year.”

"Pfizer is dedicated to broadening access around the world to our medicines, and public-private partnerships such as the one involving the Advance Market Commitment are critical to achieving true inroads on this front,” said Jeffrey Kindler, Chairman and CEO of Pfizer.

Pneumonia, the most common form of serious pneumococcal disease, accounts for one in every four-child deaths, making it the leading cause of death among young children. In all, pneumococcal disease takes the lives of 1.6 million people each year, including approximately 800,000 children before their fifth birthday; more than 90% of these deaths occur in developing countries. GAVI estimates that the introduction of suitable and affordable vaccines against the disease could save approximately 900,000 lives by 2015 and up to seven million lives by 2030.

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