US vaccine market potential and immunity from tort claims support Pfizer's Wyeth buy

The agreed $68.0 billion takeover by global drug behemoth Pfizer for its fellow USA-based major Wyeth has brought into focus one of the quiet  successes of the past 20 years for the pharmaceutical sector: the  limitation of vaccines law suits under the National Childhood Vaccine  Injury Compensation Program, which has been operational since 1986.  One of Wyeth's strengths, according to analyst firm Sanford C Bernstein  & Co, is Prevnar, which provides immunization against seven strains of  pneumoccocal disease. Sales are predicted to rise from $2.7 billion in  2008 to $5.5 billion in 2015, which is useful in a timeframe that  includes a number of major patent expiries, such as Pfizer's  best-selling blockbuster statin Lipitor (atorvastatin; Marketletters  passim). A spokesman for Pfizer told the Marketletter: "the proposed  Wyeth acquisition significantly advances each stated strategic priority  that were laid out two years ago and includes, among others things,  being a leader in vaccines, biologics and small molecules."