Vaccine Marketing - Innovation and Marketing in the Pharmaceutical Industry - page 393

et al. 2011 ). Product differentiation also increases costs for vaccine-dispensing
physicians, because ordering, stocking, and handling several vaccines instead of one
signifi cantly increase costs and risks. This explains why physicians prefer vaccines
that are licensed and recommended for a broad group of consumers over products
with a narrower license. For example, GSK's adolescent and adult DTP booster
vaccine Boostrix, indicated for individuals 10 years and over, represents a threat to
the leadership of Sanofi Pasteur Adacel's, which is limited to individuals between
11 and 65 years.
Global branding of vaccines depends on companies' manufacturing strategy.
Because brand names are linked to regulatory dossiers which, in turn, are linked to
manufacturing sites, the same vaccine produced at a different site must carry a dif-
ferent brand name. For example, GSK markets two fl u vaccine brands—Fluarix and
Flulaval—each of which is produced at a different manufacturing site. Global
branding therefore requires that a vaccine sold throughout the world be produced at
only one manufacturing site.
The big fi ve vaccine manufacturers pursue different branding policies. GSK,
Merck, and Pfi zer-Wyeth use their corporate brand, plus product brands. Novartis
uses Novartis (in large letters) Vaccines (in small letters) as a master brand (Aaker
2004 ), plus product brands. Sanofi Pasteur is Sanofi 's master brand for vaccines.
It combines the corporate brand (Sanofi ) with the product family brand Pasteur,
which leverages the valuable equity of Louis Pasteur, the creator of the fi rst vaccine
against rabies and anthrax. GSK's product names provide a horizontal link across
all vaccine products (Keller 2008 ) through the use of the suffi x “rix,” as in Cervarix
(HPV vaccine), Rotarix (rotavirus vaccine), and Havrix (hepatitis A vaccine). Sanofi
Pasteur uses the suffi x “cim” for its 2-component acP vaccines (Pentaxim, Tetraxim,
Hexaxim), and “cel” for its 5-component acP vaccines (Adacel, Daptacel, Pentacel).

13.4.4 New Vaccines

13.4.4.1 New Vaccine Development

One direction for new product development in the vaccine industry is to develop
vaccines for new disease targets. The second direction for new vaccine development
is to improve existing vaccines in terms of effi cacy, safety, convenience, tolerability,
manufacturability, transportability and storability, and cost and ease of delivery.
When target antigens are constant and do not vary over time, as is the case for
MMR, yellow fever, tetanus, diphtheria, and Hib, existing vaccines maintain their
effi cacy. Improvements of these vaccines are therefore less frequent and focus on
attributes other than effi cacy. But when there are variations in the target vaccine antigens,
the effi cacy of existing vaccines may change. For example, infl uenza A antigens
vary from one season to the next. To maintain effi cacy, vaccines against this disease