ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION: THE IMPORTANCE OF ECONOMICS
The development and commercialization of vaccines depends not only on the scientific knowledge underpinning a candidate but also on the economic costs, risks, and returns associated with the required investments. Ultimately, assuring the best use of limited resources, or economics, is an important factor in all vaccine decisions, whether it is which candidates to develop, which vaccine to scale up, what presentation to select, or which vaccine to purchase for use in national immunization programs. Every step of the development process, from vaccine concept to marketable product, is gated by investment decisions. Understanding the economics guiding these decisions will help scientists and public health experts to achieve the objectives of accelerating the development and availability of priority vaccines, particularly for the developing world.
