Using economic and social data to improve veterinary vaccine development: Learning lessons from human vaccinology

Camille Bellet,Jonathan Rushton,Lian F. Thomas

doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.10.044

Abstract

The drivers of vaccine development are many and varied. They include, for example, recognition of the burden of a vaccine-targeted disease, prioritisation of the multiple problems associated with a disease, consideration of the differing socio-economic situations under which vaccines are used, the influence of advocacy groups, and assessment of the feasibility of large-scale vaccine manufacture and distribution. In the field of human health, data-driven development of vaccines is becoming increasingly common through the availability of reliable information on the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) and stringent evaluations of vaccination programmes utilising empirical data on costing and effectiveness, and standardised cost-effectiveness thresholds. The data generated from such analyses allow policymakers, implementing partners, industries and researchers to make decisions based on the best, and most contextually relevant, available evidence. In this paper, we wish to explore the current use of economic and social data for the development of veterinary vaccines. Through comparison with the development of human vaccines, we will look for opportunities in animal health sciences to better integrate socio-economic data and analyses into the process of veterinary vaccine selection, development, and field implementation. We believe that more robust animal health impact assessments could add value to veterinary vaccine development by improving resource allocation and animal disease management.

Highlights

Investment in health interventions – be that in humans or in non-human animals, at the individual or group-level – requires decisions to be made on resource allocation within a finite budget
For the adoption of monovalent rotavirus vaccine alone, sixty cost-effectiveness analyses were to date performed [5], demonstrating the high degree to which this type of analysis is integrated into human vaccinology
A striking example, highlighting the need for both larger scale postintroduction studies and stringent pharmacovigilance in animal health, was the increased incidence in Bovine Neonatal Pancytopenia (BNP) in calves born to dams previously vaccinated with PregSureÒ Bovine Viral Diarrheal Vaccine (Pfizer animal health) after its introduction in several European countries and New Zealand [49,50,51,52,53]

Summary

Introduction

Investment in health interventions – be that in humans or in non-human animals, at the individual or group-level (e.g. farm, region, and nation) – requires decisions to be made on resource allocation within a finite budget. There are guidelines to help countries making decisions about vaccination [3], as well as specific guidance on the socio-economic evaluation of vaccine and vaccination strategies [4] In this regard, cost-effectiveness analyses are the most commonly used economic tool in human health care settings. Two specific areas where development of veterinary vaccines lag behind These being the ability to prioritise potential vaccine targets based upon the quantified burden of diseases and the use of extensive observational field studies in the post-licensure phase to evaluate vaccine safety, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness under field conditions [10,11,12]

Defining priorities for veterinary vaccine development

Learning lessons from human vaccine development

Findings

Summary