Major global pharmaceutical companies cut their clinical-stage vaccine pipelines by about 27% over the past year. However, they appear to have reinforced a selective investment strategy by keeping late-stage pipelines closer to commercialization while focusing resources on developing high value-added products such as combination vaccines.
A report titled "Status of clinical vaccine pipelines by major global companies," published on the 18th by the Korea Biomedicines Association, shows that the clinical pipelines of the top six global vaccine developers—Pfizer, Sanofi, MSD, GSK, Moderna, and AstraZeneca—totaled 55.
That is down 20 from 75 a year earlier. The phase 1 and phase 2 pipelines fell from 25 to 18 and from 34 to 22, respectively. In contrast, the phase 3 pipeline decreased by just one, from 16 to 15.
The association said, "Selective entry of new candidates has become more pronounced," noting, "The contraction in the mid- to early stages is a strategy to concentrate resources on projects with proven likelihood of success and marketability."
By company, Sanofi had the most vaccines in the pipeline with 15 (six in phase 1, five in phase 2, and four in phase 3) among those surveyed. MSD was found to operate its clinical vaccine portfolio on a limited basis, holding only one phase 3 project.
Across all six corporations' vaccine pipelines, phase 2 had the most with 22, followed by 18 in phase 1 and 15 in phase 3.
By indication, respiratory infectious diseases such as influenza, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) took center stage. In particular, development of respiratory combination vaccines such as "COVID-19 + influenza" and "RSV + human metapneumovirus (hMPV)" is expanding. This appears to be a strategy to maximize preventive effectiveness by responding to seasonal and concurrent circulation while improving vaccination convenience.
The association said, "The strategic direction of global pharmaceutical companies has shifted from quantitative expansion to portfolio rationalization and reprioritization," adding, "While the overall pipeline has shrunk, competitiveness in high value-added areas such as combination vaccines has instead strengthened."