MIT undertakes Grand Challenge for innovation in global vaccine manufacturing
Vaccines are among the most transformative and successful outcomes of modern medicine. For countries fortunate enough to have immunization coverage, their value can also lower or avert health care costs, increase economic productivity, and reduce poverty. The cost of producing and distributing vaccines to lower income countries still limits their availability to much of the world’s population, however. Despite recent improvements in global vaccine coverage, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 21.8 million infants worldwide did not receive complete basic immunizations in 2013. Further, of the 5.2 million deaths annually among children under the age of five, nearly one-third are preventable by vaccines. Incomplete vaccine coverage results from a number of factors, including limited resources, poor health system management, competing health priorities, and inadequate monitoring. Beyond these factors, procuring manufactured vaccines at suitable costs is an essential requirement. A substantial reduction in the cost to manufacture vaccines could help promote...