Though it’s probably not anyone’s favorite errand to run, getting yearly vaccinations for infectious diseases like the flu and Covid-19 not only saves many lives, but it also saves the healthcare system a lot of money.
But many infectious diseases, like HIV and norovirus, still don’t have vaccines available, and a lack of venture capital (VC) investment in the biotech companies developing these shots is a contributing factor, according to a January report from the trade group Biotechnology Innovation Organization, or BIO.
“Historically, investment into infectious disease vaccine companies has been a small percent of the total emerging biopharmaceutical funding,” the report stated.
Funding by the numbers
Biotechs with infectious disease vaccine programs raised $6.5 billion in VC dollars over the past 10 years, or 3.4% of total biotech VC funds, according to BIO’s report. Oncology drugmakers, in contrast, brought in $72.6 billion over the last decade, making up 38% of total VC dollars.
VC interest in biotechs developing infectious disease vaccines has increased significantly in recent years thanks to the pandemic; companies raised $2.4 billion in 2021 alone, according to the report. Still, most of that money went toward developing Covid vaccines.
There are still many infectious diseases that don’t have any vaccines or clinical trials in progress, the report stated. Of the 249 clinical trials taking place worldwide for infectious disease vaccines, just 31 are for diseases with no approved vaccine.
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It usually takes more than one clinical trial per disease to get a vaccine approved. There’s only an 11% chance a vaccine will receive FDA approval, so at least 10 clinical trials per disease are needed to ensure at least one makes it over the finish line, the report found.
“For many infectious diseases, particularly low incidence and tropical diseases that disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries, there are far fewer than 10 developmental vaccine programs initiated in recent years, signaling that more investment and innovation is needed,” the report stated.
BIO suggested a number of changes that could be made to boost VC interest in biotechs developing infectious disease vaccines, including clearer guidelines on the kinds of data biotechs should report to the FDA and CDC to gain approval.
Having clearer guidelines would “increase the predictability and confidence in terms of product characteristics and forecasted market size,” the report stated. “Vaccine developers and their investors would then be more likely to pursue vaccines for more narrow populations or unique infectious diseases.”