The Vaccine Marketplace is Unique

Financial (Dis)Incentives and Vaccine Infrastructure – In a sense, physicians function as a vaccine “retail store” – buying and re-selling vaccines to their patients. Stocking vaccines requires both significant financial investments and establishing protocols and personnel to maintain the inventory. While Pediatricians have an established infrastructure, those treating adults—especially specialists—do not. Consequently, successfully marketing vaccines can require more than convincing physicians of their medical value; it may also require helping them overcoming financial and practical hurdles associated with establishing a vaccine practice

Lack of Ownership – For many vaccines, especially those for infants, it is clear which physician specialty will “own” vaccination (i.e., take responsibility for offering it to patients). However, some novel vaccines lack an obvious “owner.” Successfully marketing this type of vaccine requires determining which physicians will have the means (infrastructure), motives (both patient-centric and financial), and opportunity (contact with the right patients at the optimal time) to take a leading role in vaccinating

Government Involvement – Because of the obvious health benefits of many vaccines, governments are becoming more involved in then most other therapeutic areas. First, government guidelines for prescribing are strongly adhered to. For example, it’s likely that recommendations from the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) influence US physicians’ behavior more strongly than any guidelines in other therapeutic areas. Second, governments directly purchase a substantial portion of the vaccine doses administered worldwide. Even in the US, state governments—through Vaccines for Children (VFC) and Universal Purchase programs—directly purchase many vaccines, and by so doing can limit brand choices for patients