New "game-changing" pneumonia vaccine offers affordable protection against number one childhood killer
MSF welcomes the news that the World Health Organization (WHO) has just quality-assured a third pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV), manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.
This vaccine protects children against certain types of pneumonia and will be much more affordable than existing vaccines.
This critical step will enable countries and treatment-providers to procure more affordable versions of the vaccine, which has long been out of reach for millions of children because of the high prices of the existing vaccines produced by Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).
A more affordable pneumonia vaccine is a gamechanger in protecting more children against the world’s number one childhood killer.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provided some pioneering support for the development of the vaccine.
“This is a monumental day for kids around the world and the governments that are trying to protect them from life-threatening pneumonia. A more affordable pneumonia vaccine is a in protecting more children against the world’s number one childhood killer,” says Kate Elder, Senior Vaccines Policy Advisor for MSF’s Access Campaign.
Profits over people
For nearly 20 years, pharmaceutical corporations Pfizer and GSK have maintained on the vaccine that has allowed them to keep prices high.
Pfizer and GSK charge Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance – a donor-funded that helps the poorest countries access vaccines – roughly US$9 for each child to be vaccinated in the poorest countries. For middle-income countries that don't qualify for Gavi support they charge as much as $80 per child.
More than 55 million kids around the world have been left out, largely due to corporate greed.
There is little transparency on the prices charged by Pfizer and GSK, as the corporations take great lengths to keep prices secret. The result of these high prices is that governments cannot afford the vaccine, and children are left unprotected against deadly diseases like pneumonia.
Pfizer and GSK have earned over $50 billion in sales of the pneumococcal vaccine in the past ten years, with Pfizer winning the lion’s share of these revenues. Today, 55 million children around the world still do not have access to the pneumonia vaccine, largely due to high prices.
Breaking the stranglehold
The Serum Institute of India has stated previously that they plan to sell the vaccine at about $6 per child to Gavi and to the poorest countries, and for no more than about $11 in middle-income countries, significantly less than Pfizer and GSK’s products.
MSF has been calling for a more affordable pneumonia vaccine for years, asking that it be priced at no more than $5 per child," says Elder.
This new and more affordable vaccine from an Indian manufacturer will finally break the longstanding stranglehold by pharmaceutical corporations Pfizer and GSK, meaning that the more than 55 million kids around the world that have been left out, largely due to corporate greed, can finally have a fair shot at being protected.
“Many of these children reside in countries deemed ‘middle-income’, which cannot benefit from special prices negotiated by Gavi.
Help us respond to the next emergency
Action needed to save lives
“To save as many lives as possible, we call on WHO, UNICEF and Gavi to step up and help governments access this more affordable vaccine as rapidly as possible,” says Elder.
“We also expect the Serum Institute of India to extend the lowest global price for its new pneumonia vaccine to all ”
Governments that wish to purchase this new more affordable vaccine should consider using the WHO Collaborative Registration Procedure to accelerate its registration.