Elsevier

Vaccine

Volume 31, Supplement 2, 18 April 2013, Pages B176-B183
Vaccine

Review
Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network: Doing good by making high-quality vaccines affordable for all

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2012.11.060Get rights and content

Abstract

The Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVMN) is a unique model of a public and private international alliance. It assembles governmental and private organizations to work toward a common goal of manufacturing and supplying high-quality vaccines at affordable prices to protect people around the world from known and emerging infectious diseases. Together, this group of manufacturers has decades of experience in manufacturing vaccines, with technologies, know-how, and capacity to produce more than 40 vaccines types. These manufacturers have already contributed more than 30 vaccines in various presentations that have been prequalified by the World Health Organization for use by global immunization programmes. Furthermore, more than 45 vaccines are in the pipeline. Recent areas of focus include vaccines to protect against rotavirus, human papillomavirus (HPV), Japanese encephalitis, meningitis, hepatitis E, poliovirus, influenza, and pertussis, as well as combined pentavalent vaccines for children. The network has a growing number of manufacturers that produce a growing number of products to supply the growing demand for vaccines in developing countries.

Highlights

► DCVMN is a unique public and private international alliance changing the global vaccination landscape. ► The increased number of manufacturers resulted in a five-to-six fold increase in pentavalent doses supplied to UNICEF. ► A remarkable achievement is the development of a group A meningococcal meningitis conjugate vaccine for Africa. ► Another innovation is the development and approval of the world's first hepatitis E vaccine. ► Over the past decade, DCVMN members have produced innovative, high-quality, and affordable vaccines for all.

Introduction

The Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVMN) is a unique model of an international alliance. It assembles public and private organizations to work toward a common goal of manufacturing and supplying high-quality vaccines at affordable prices to protect people around the world from known and emerging infectious diseases. Notably, the network is a voluntary public health-driven alliance of manufacturers with facilities established in developing countries and owned in majority by stakeholders in those countries [1], [2]. It does not include multinational companies with manufacturing facilities in developing countries, or their subsidiaries.

Networking is the simplest model of partnership, where organizations come together regularly to share best practices and discuss areas of commonality. The aim is to enhance the organizations’ abilities to take up opportunities, such as co-development of products or technology transfer, or to deliver specific services or products.

The network is steadily growing. As of September 2012, it has 37 members in 14 countries in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region (Fig. 1). Together, these manufacturers employ more than 42,000 skilled workers, with about 70% in the Asia-Pacific region, 15% in the Middle East and Africa, and 15% in Latin America. This employment contributes to the welfare and health of families and communities and the success of national economies. The vaccine industry not only offers the prospect of long-term professional careers and skills development for individuals but also contributes actively to sustainable development and empowerment of emerging economies.

The network strengthens the capacity of manufacturers to supply high-quality vaccines by facilitating information sharing and workshops, encouraging technology transfer initiatives and innovative research, and educating the public about the availability of safe and effective vaccines from developing-country manufacturers. Since the network was established in 2000 [1], member companies have helped to significantly increase access to high-quality vaccines, at affordable prices, for people who need them most, in the poorest countries of the world.

Collectively, network members have the technologies, know-how, and capacity to produce more than 40 vaccines types. They have contributed more than 30 vaccines in various presentations that have been prequalified by the World Health Organization (WHO) for immunization programmes around the world (Fig. 2). Furthermore, more than 45 products are in the pipeline. DCVMN members, for example, will soon likely launch the next rotavirus vaccine and the next human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to become available globally. Also, the first prequalified Japanese encephalitis vaccine may become available from DCVMN members for global procurement in 2013.DCVMN members have played a critical role in increasing global access to vaccines, which now prevent an estimated 2.5 million deaths each year, according to WHO. A key success story has been a global increase in measles vaccination rates, which contributed to a 74% percent drop in measles deaths from 2000 to 2010 [3].

Section snippets

Increasing access to pentavalent vaccines

Innovative pentavalent vaccines, introduced with support of the GAVI Alliance (www.gavialliance.org), enable use of one product to immunize children against five diseases—diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenzae type b. This reduces the number of injections a child needs to receive and the number of visits it takes to get them, therefore increasing the likelihood that a child will receive all vaccines necessary for a healthy childhood. Using a pentavalent vaccine

DCVMN commitment to quality: a solid basis for safety and efficacy of vaccines

Importantly, the ability to have a great vaccine portfolio, large manufacturing capacity, innovation, and technology transfer initiatives depends ultimately on the quality of vaccines supplied by manufacturers. Unlike other medical interventions, vaccines are given to healthy people, and people are far less willing to tolerate vaccines’ adverse effects. Vaccines of high quality will have the safety profile and efficacy levels needed to reduce the incidence of infectious diseases. Thus, vaccine

Conclusion and outlook into the new decade of vaccines: opportunities and challenges

Over the past decade, developing-country vaccine manufacturers have built a successful track record of producing innovative, high-quality, and affordable vaccines, changing the landscape of vaccination globally. These manufacturers have played a crucial role in increasing access to vaccines toward universal use. Through strategic alliances and technology transfer initiatives, they have been able to supply combination vaccines to children, make large areas of the world polio-free, fight regional

Conflict of interest

The authors are employees of the respective indicated organizations, and have no conflict of interest to declare.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Dr. Jan Hendricks, Mr. Rajinder K. Suri, and Mr. Hong Thai for comments and suggestions to this manuscript. We thank Mr. Jack Hunsicker for help with editing.

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