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November 30, 2006
Office of Health Economics - 13th Annual Lecture and Dinner
Location: London, England, UK
Dates: 30 November 2006
Venue: The Royal College of Physicians, by kind permission of the Treasurer
“The new global economics of vaccines. Will the scientific potential be realised?” by Jean Stephenne, President of GSK Bio
with an introduction by Professor Patricia Danzon of the Wharton School
Thursday 30th November 2006 at 6.00 p.m.
The traditional public health model of vaccine purchase through public tendering to drive down prices and rising regulatory standards was widely seen as hitting innovation, leading to the exit of companies from vaccine research and manufacture. At a global level there were delays of a decade or more before vaccines got from rich to poor countries. Now we see breakthrough new vaccines for developed countries; unprecedented investment in both buying and research for vaccines to tackle developing country diseases, including Hib, malaria and HIV/AIDS; and new entrants into the vaccine industry. The US BioShield initiative and fears of a bird flu pandemic have led to plans for commissioning and stockpiling, and “therapeutic vaccines” are providing new hope for patients and opportunities for companies. So what has changed and does this mean that purchasing arrangements are now in place that will lead to competition to develop and supply a new generation of vaccines?
In this lecture, Jean Stephenne, President and General Manager of the vaccine unit of GlaxoSmithKline PLC, will discuss trends in the science and new economics of vaccines. GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals’ (GSK Bio) current portfolio includes the recently launched rotavirus vaccine and an HPV vaccine targeting cervical cancer, a vaccine to prevent pneumococcal disease, an improved flu vaccine for the elderly, and a meningitis combination vaccine; products with application in rich, middle income and poor countries. It also has bird flu vaccines in clinical trials and a malaria vaccine, entering Phase III trials, that is being developed in collaboration with MVI, a product development partnership funded by the Gates Foundation.
As part of GSK Bio’s global strategy Stephenne has shown his commitment to the developing world through the substantial proportion of its research and development programme dedicated to diseases prevalent in the developing world, the use of tiered pricing for more than 20 years, and the willingness to launch new vaccines simultaneously in developed and developing countries. By emphasizing the global role of vaccines, Stephenne has revolutionized the vaccine industry and helped create a new paradigm of public-private partnerships.
When Stephenne, joined GSK Bio in 1974 the company had $3 million of sales, mostly from a 20-year-old oral polio vaccine. Today GSK Bio has more than 20 vaccines in clinical trials and is expecting to launch five major new vaccines in the next five years. It accounts for more than a quarter of worldwide vaccine sales, delivering more than 1.2 billion doses of vaccine in 165 countries around the world and generating more than #2.4 billion in annual revenues.
Jean Stephenne will be introduced by Professor Patricia Danzon, Celia Moh Professor of Health Care Systems, Insurance and Risk Management, at the Wharton School who will set out the economic context of vaccines. She has researched and written extensively on the vaccines and pharmacuetical industry in the US and elsewhere and was a member of the IOM Committee on Malaria Treatment.
She has served as a consultant to the World Bank, the European Commission, the New Zealand Treasury, the Asian Development Bank, and U.S. Agency for International Development, the Institute for Civil Justice, the Alliance of American Insurers, and others.
Professor Danzon is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Health Economics and the International Journal of Health Care Finance and Economics. She has published widely in scholarly journals on a broad range of subjects related to medical care, pharmaceuticals, insurance, and the economics of law.
Selected publications include: “Cross National Price Differences for Pharmaceuticals: How Large and Why?” (with L.W. Chao, J. Health Economics, 2000); Pharmaceutical Price Regulation: Global vs. National Interests, (AEI Press, 1997); “Productivity in Pharmaceutical-Biotechnology R&D: The Role of Experience and Alliances” (with Sean Nicholson and Nuno Pereira. J. of Health Economics, 2005); Vaccine Supply: A Cross-National Perspective” (with Nuno Pereira and Sapna Tejwani) Health Affairs 2005.
To register to attend this event please contact Liz Aulsford on: laulsford@ohe.org 020 7747 8855
Admission to the 6.00pm lecture will be by ticket only, for which there is no charge. For those wishing to attend the dinner (7.00pm for 7.30pm) following the lecture, there will be a charge of £69.00 (inclusive of VAT). Credit card details can be submitted or cheques made payable to: Office of Health Economics (OHE).
