Challenges in Developing New Vaccines: Lack of Financial Incentives

As well as expense and time, another challenge of developing a vaccine is a lack of financial incentive for vaccine developers.

Neglected tropical diseases include infectious diseases that cause high rates of disability and death in low to middle income countries. Despite the global burden of disease caused by these diseases, vaccine development to date has been limited. This is because these infections occur exclusively in the world’s poorest countries where the costs of vaccine development could not be recouped from sales of vaccines.

Bacterial infections that can be treated with relatively cheap and readily available antibiotics may also not be financially attractive targets for vaccine developers. However, as antimicrobial resistance grows internationally, appetite and economic support for the development of vaccines as a means of reducing antibiotic consumption may increase.

Case study 2: Melioidosis

Melioidosis is a neglected tropical disease, and a major infectious killer in South East Asia. It particularly affects people with diabetes. Watch this video where Professor Dunachie describes research for this condition. You can also find a link to this video in the related links section at the bottom of this page, as well as a PDF summary in the downloads section.

Before a vaccine can be developed we need to understand more about how the body responds to the infection. This brings us on to the next step – biological challenges faced when designing a vaccine.