World vaccines sales "to grow 21%/year"

More than 15 new immunotherapy medicines have been launched in the pasttwo years, while at least 25 products are now in late-stage clinical trials and over 400 vaccine products are in various earlier stages of development, says a new study from Theta Reports.

Therapeutic vaccines represent the vast majority of early-stage products, including antibody, gene and immunoprotein medicines, it says. The therapeutic vaccine segment alone generated sales of $2 billion in 1999 and is expected to show annual average growth of 21%, reaching $4.5 billion in 2005, it forecasts.

The study notes recent reports of the potential dangers associated with certain pediatric vaccines, controversies surrounding clinical trial procedures and conflicting patent positions. However, says author Shara Rosen, manufacturers do not appear to be deterred by these problems, and have high hopes for their products. Vaccine and biotechnology companies have joined the hundreds of groups hoping to capitalize on the whirlwind of the genomic era in medicine, she says, adding that the past two years have seen a new generation of therapeutic vaccines in the making.