Growth forecast for European vaccines market
High levels of unmet medical needs for AIDS, malaria and TB present huge growth potential, says F&S
The European vaccines market is set to grow by 9.6% each year to 2018, when it will have revenues of US$12.05bn, according to new forecasts.
In its report, Analysis of the European Vaccines Market, Frost & Sullivan finds that in 2011, the European vaccines market earned revenues of $6.36bn and going forward technology innovation and increasing focus on new vaccine development are likely to revolutionise the vaccine industry from prophylactic to therapeutic vaccines.
The high levels of unmet medical needs for diseases such as AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis – which affect millions of people every year and contribute to increasing healthcare expenditure – present huge growth potential and untapped market opportunities, thereby fuelling increased R&D investments and government support for vaccine development, says the research organisation.
‘The future growth of the vaccine industry is likely to be propelled by the adult vaccines segment,’ says Aiswariya Chidambaram, senior research analyst at Frost & Sullivan.
‘The tremendous success rates of the recently launched influenza and HPV vaccines have attracted the attention of market participants towards the adult vaccines. The vast majority of the vaccines in pipeline are novel, innovative vaccines based on new antigens, targeting malaria, tuberculosis, dengue fever, allergies and herpes,’ she adds.
The study also finds that anticipation of capacity demand remains a key challenge for vaccine manufacturers, particularly during pandemic outbreak of diseases.
‘Speculation of vaccine production capacity considering unanticipated needs such as pandemic outbreaks, epidemics and bioterrorism is likely to have a huge impact on the growth and sustenance of vaccine manufacturers in Europe,’ adds Chidambaram.
‘Vaccine manufacturers are under the compulsion to maintain excess reserve supply owing to the tender-based vaccine procurement, lest they miss out on huge business opportunities.’
Therefore, it will be critical for market participants to be able to make accurate estimates of capacity demand and product differentiation will be critical for market participants, in order to garner a substantial share of the market.
‘The highly fragmented nature of the European market will require market participants accurately to predict manufacturing capacity and fulfil global requirements during emergency situations, thereby enabling them to stay ahead of competition and prevent being hit by excess or inadequate capacity,’ concludes Chidambaram.