Investing in the Future

Investment in research and development, largely by the pharmaceutical industry, has resulted in the development of a broad range of vaccines. In fact vaccination can currently protect against over 25 infectious diseases. During the last 30 years scientists have made further breakthroughs by harnessing the power of biotechnology, genetic decoding and information technology, and the pace of vaccine development has accelerated.

One major innovation was the development of combination vaccines that can protect against several diseases with one simple injection. An example is the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine that is used to protect children around the world.

However we are entering a new era in vaccine development. Hundreds of research projects are underway throughout the world to develop new vaccines against deadly viruses, bacteria and parasites such as AIDS, dengue fever or malaria. The pharmaceutical industry has also recently introduced a number of vaccines such as those for cervical cancer caused by the human papilloma virus, meningococcal infection, pandemic-potential influenza, pneumococcal diseases, rotavirus diarrhoea and varicella zoster. The major potential these vaccines offer for controlling infectious diseases has been publicly acknowledged by WHO.

As biological sciences continue to advance rapidly, the pharmaceutical industry is making significant investments to further extend the range of available vaccines. Scientists continue to work on preventing infectious diseases, including those that disproportionately affect the developing world such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. A number of vaccines are now in development that are designed to treat diseases, such as cancer. Unlike more traditional vaccines, these aim to focus the immune system on attacking established disease, rather than offering protection against infections.