Vaccines Business Set For Explosive Growth, Says SB

Throughout the first half of the 1990s, the global vaccines market has gone through a period of quite remarkable growth, and this trend looks set to continue, and even accelerate, into the next millennium.

This explosive growth can be demonstrated by looking at one of the major players in the vaccines business, SmithKline Beecham. In 1990, in the wake of the merger, SB's vaccine sales were just over $100 million a year. In 1996 this is expected to top $1 billion, according to Jean Stephenne, senior vice president and general manager of SB Biologicals in Rixensart, Belgium.

SB believes that it currently holds around 25%-30% of the world market for vaccines, and is confident that it can maintain and grow this position. The company's optimism is also shared by analysts Duncan Moore and James McKean at Morgan Stanley, who recently issued a statement indicating that L1 billion ($1.5 billion) in vaccine sales by the year 2000 could be on the cards. The growth of SB's vaccines business since 1990 is represented graphically in the figure below.