GSK and Pfizer will provide affordable vaccines for children suffering with pneumococcal diseases in the world’s poorest nations.

Affordable vaccines that help protect children against pneumonia will be made available in more than 70 of the world’s poorest countries, thanks to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI Alliance).

Infants and children will receive potentially life-saving vaccines that help protect against pneumococcal disease, including pneumonia – the world’s biggest childhood killer, thanks to new agreements made by the GAVI Alliance with two major pharmaceutical firms – GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Pfizer Inc.

They are the first two companies to make long-term commitments to supply new vaccines against pneumococcal disease – with supply potentially starting as early as 2010 and at a fraction of the price charged in industrialised countries.

The supply agreements were made possible thanks to the Advance Market Commitment (AMC) for pneumococcal disease, an innovative financing mechanism piloted by the GAVI Alliance. The governments of Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, Russia, Norway and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation committed $1.5 billion (£1 billion) to launch the programme.

GAVI Chief Executive Officer, Julian Lob-Levyt, said yesterday: “Today’s landmark announcement promises to make new vaccines available affordably, where they are urgently needed, and faster than ever before. Through this AMC and thanks to the political will demonstrated by donors and least developed nations and the participation of the pharmaceutical companies, prevention against the world’s biggest childhood killer is now within reach.”

Pneumococcal disease takes the lives of 1.6 million people each year – including approximately 800,000 children before their fifth birthday. More than 90% of these deaths occur in developing countries, and pneumonia accounts for one in every four child deaths.

GAVI estimates that the introduction of suitable and affordable vaccines against the disease could save approximately 900,000 lives by 2015 and up to seven million lives by 2030.

The two participating firms have committed to supply 30 million doses each per year, for a 10 year period. These vaccines will be made available at $3.50 per dose to be paid by GAVI and the developing country governments that introduce the vaccines.

For approximately 20% of the doses, companies will also receive an additional payment of $3.50 for each dose they provide, which is paid with donor commitments (AMC funds).

These commitments help provide vaccine makers with the incentive to invest the considerable sums required to finalise development of vaccines and build adequate manufacturing capacity to serve developing countries.

Firms can still make offers under the AMC as new calls for supply offers will be issued over time; Panacea Biotec Ltd and the Serum Institute of India Ltd. are among the firms that have already registered to the programme and other companies have expressed interest in the pilot, and as more players enter the market, the long-term vaccine price could drop even further.

The GAVI Alliance also aims to introduce a vaccine against rotavirus, which causes diarrhoea, another major killer, in 41 countries by 2015. Together with the pneumococcal vaccine, the lives of up to 11 million children could be saved by 2030.