The market for vaccines is increasing quickly, and major pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer (New York) and GlaxoSmithKline (London) are competing for a greater share of it. Two new market-research reports describe the market’s recent growth and predict future market expansions.

The world market for preventative vaccines was worth $22.1 billion in 2009, compared with a value of $19 billion in 2008, according to market-research firm Kalorama Information. The firm’s latest report, titled “Vaccines 2010: World Market Analysis, Key Players, and Critical Trends in a Fast-Changing Industry,” predicts that the worldwide vaccine market will grow at a compound annual rate of 9.7% during the next five years. The growth will result from the introduction of new products and the expanding use of current products.

“The vaccine business is not without its risks, but for some companies, vaccines were the only bright spot in their portfolio in 2009. It’s not a surprise therefore that development is heavy in this sector, and that will contribute to growth over the next five years,” said Bruce Carlson, publisher of Kalorama Information, in a press release.

In its new report titled “Vaccines Review and Outlook 2010,” Canon Data Products Group predicts that the vaccine market will grow at an estimated annual rate of 14% during the next five years, thus outpacing the growth in the oncology market. The global vaccine market will achieve $34 billion in sales by 2012, according to Canon’s report.

Advances in immunology, increasing emphasis on preventative medicine, and the shift from small-molecule drug research to discovering novel and orphan biologics are contributing to the growth of the vaccine market, according to Canon’s report. Unmet medical needs in areas such as childhood diseases in developing nations, chronic diseases (e.g., diabetes and cancer), and widespread conditions (e.g., HIV, meningitis, and dengue) also could promote growth in the vaccine market, according to a Canon press release.

“The world of vaccines is prospering as newer innovation is succeeding in the marketplace without the burden of near-term patent expirations,” said Andrew Humphreys, Canon’s editor in chief, in a press release. “Dendreon Corp.’s [Seattle] prostate-cancer treatment Provenge represents the first therapeutic cancer vaccine as well as the arrival of a new era in the vaccine oncology arena. HPV [human papillomavirus] and meningitis-prevention vaccines are ones to watch as the competition in those areas is ramping up.”

The vaccines market often is divided into pediatric and adult products. The market for pediatric vaccines is larger than that for adult vaccines and represents more than half of the total vaccine market, according to Kalorama’s report. In addition, the market for pediatric vaccines is growing at a faster rate than that for adult vaccines, and will continue to do so for the next five years. Pneumococcal and diphtheria–tetanus toxoids–acellular pertussis vaccines are spurring growth in the pediatric sector. Vaccines against influenza and hepatitis are promoting sales in the adult market, and future growth in this segment will result from increased acceptance and the introduction of new products, according to the report.

Merck & Co. (Whitehouse Station, NJ), GSK, Sanofi Pasteur (Lyon), Pfizer, and Novartis (Basel) dominate the worldwide vaccine market. GSK controlled roughly 25% of the world market in 2009, thanks mostly to its influenza products Fluvarix and Hiberix, according to Kalorama.

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