The Benefits of Vaccine Development and Safety

IN NOVEMBER, during the opening presentation at the Vaccines + Immunity: Examining Modern Medicine meeting, Leonard Friedland, MD, vice president, director of scientific affairs and public health, Vaccines, North America, at GlaxoSmithKline, remarked: “We are at the golden age right now in vaccinology. The opportunities that we have to take advantage of the knowledge we have gained from immunology, biology, microbiology and genomics, and to translate this into advances in patient care — this is absolutely incredible.” His statement could not have been more spot-on, with some 264 vaccines in the pipeline in the U.S., and several recently approved vaccines to prevent infectious diseases in adults, including Flublok Quadrivalent (influenza), Shingrix (shingles) and HEPLISAV-B (hepatitis B).¹

Indeed, it seems we are at a high point in vaccine development, with research over the past couple of years paving the way for some exciting new developments. In our article “Vaccines in the Pipeline,” we touch on new vaccines that seek to prevent threatening diseases, including HIV, type 1 diabetes, influenza, cancer, Clostridium difficile and Ebola.

While it is well-known vaccines are one of the best preventive measures universally recommended today, some 50,000 adults die each year in the U.S. from vaccine-preventable diseases such as influenza and measles, which is more than from HIV/AIDS, breast cancer or traffic accidents.² Also disheartening, as we explain in our article “The Consequences of Declining Childhood Vaccination,” this is due in part to the recent phenomenon of parents failing to vaccinate their children for various reasons such as a fear of giving their children too many vaccines too soon, concern about vaccine ingredients and the misconception that they cause autism — all of which have been discredited. And, without the protection of recommended vaccines comes declining community immunity, resulting in the resurgence of preventable diseases that can be deadly. Fortunately, as we outline, healthcare professionals can clear up parents’ misconceptions about vaccine safety and emphasize the overwhelming benefits of vaccinating children.

Because of the high value and fragile nature of these essential vaccines and other biologics, protecting them is a serious concern. Strict guidelines for their storage and inventory — especially those that rely on cold-chain logistics — are governed by several different agencies, requiring time-intensive processes by healthcare facility staff to maintain supply and reduce potential damage and waste. We detail the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines for storage and inventory in our article “Managing Medicines: Mitigating the Risks of Inventory and Storage.” And, to assist facilities with simplifying and automating these complex tasks, we highlight two smart systems — Verified Inventory ProgramConsignment and MinibarRx — that can greatly ease this burden on healthcare facilities.

As always, we hope you enjoy this issue of BioSupply Trends Quarterly, and find it both relevant and helpful to your practice.

Patrick M. Schmidt

Publisher