Groundbreaking agreement will advance the fight against pneumococcal disease

Dear Colleagues,

Yesterday, another barrier to global access to pneumococcal vaccines fell. GAVI announced an agreement under the pneumococcal Advance Market Commitment (AMC) that will see a ten year commitment from GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer to supply pneumococcal vaccines to the world’s poorest nations. The two companies together committed a total of 600 million doses of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines over the next ten years.

These are the first two supply commitments of the pneumococcal program that grew out of a landmark report by the Center for Global Development. The program was first announced by 5 donor countries (Canada, Italy, Norway, Russia, and the United Kingdom) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2007 with a total commitment of US $1.5 billion.

Under the terms of the AMC, GAVI – with a co-pay as low as $0.15/dose from developing country governments – and the AMC fund will split the $7.00 price of a dose of vaccine for the first 20% of doses. In the second phase, GAVI will purchase the remaining 80% of doses for $3.50 per dose. This landmark agreement ensures a sustainable supply of affordable vaccine for developing countries, helping fight a disease that claims the lives of more than 800,000 children every year. The rollout will start as early as this year as the first of millions of doses will be distributed on the ground in developing countries.

In addition, two new manufacturers -Panacea Biotec Ltd and the Serum Institute of India Ltd -have registered to join the program, expanding the potential of the AMC for future years.

The AMC program is a partnership between donors, manufacturers, and developing nations and has been built through the hard work of many individuals and organizations. Today’s landmark announcement is particularly exciting for us here at Johns Hopkins. The PneumoADIP team, many members of which are now part of IVAC, has worked to support AMC efforts since its inception and we are thrilled to see its promise beginning to come to fruition. We applaud the efforts of everyone involved on reaching this important milestone in our fight against pneumococcal disease.

With best wishes,

Orin S. Levine, PhD
Executive Director
The International Vaccine Access Center

To read more about the AMC please: Click here.
To read more about the GAVI Alliance please: Click here.