Vaccine sales up 16% in 2009

Vaccine sales hit $22.1 billion in 2009, up a healthy 16 percent from 2008. And forecasts predict that sales will continue to rise annually at a rate of 9.7 percent for the next five year. Wider adoption of currently-available vaccines and the introduction of new products could push annual sales as high as $35 billion by 2015.

Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi Pasteur, Pfizer, and Novartis are the world's largest producers of vaccines, according to Kalomora Information, with GSK dominating about a quarter of the total market. Pediatric vaccines accounts for more than half of the total market, and is growing at a fast rate than the adult segment. Pneumococcal and "combination" DTaP vaccines are driving growth in the pediatric sector, while influenza and hepatitis vaccine products fuel the adult segment of the market.

"We've forecasted a high growth rate for vaccines over the past few years and market events have matched our predictions," said Bruce Carlson, publisher of Kalorama Information. "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."

- read the Kalomora release
- here's the AP story for more

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