VACCINE DEVELOPMENT FROM A COMMERCIAL POINT-OF-VIEW

The development of a commercial vaccine comprises distinct stages. Ini tiation of a research project is triggered by demands from the market. If commercial and technical requirements are met, a feasibility study is carried out. Research is started, and aimed at formulating the pro duct profile (what the product looks like). The product profile is sub ject to requirements set by the market (e.g. whether the product will fit into existing vaccination schedules) and very often technical aspe cts affect the product profile (e.g. whether the freeze-dried product is easy to reconstitute). Only after a cost-profit analysis is positiv e, the development phase is entered. During this phase, experiments ar e carried out to obtain registration. After the product has been regis tered it is ready for production and marketing. Only few vaccines for hemoparasitic diseases have reached the market. These comprise: attenu ated parasites (Toxoplasma gondii, Eimeria species); killed vaccines ( Anaplasma marginale) and subunit vaccines (Babesia canis). Factors rel ating to the product potential of these vaccines are discussed.