Abstract
Although there has been a dramatic reduction in under-5 deaths in the past 20 years, today’s neonatal mortality accounts for a higher proportion of total deaths in that age group—44 percent. In response, maternal immunization is gaining momentum as a global health priority. New vaccines are under development and available vaccines are under consideration for inclusion in routine antenatal care (ANC). Maternal immunization achieves two objectives: protecting both the pregnant woman and her newborn from vaccine-preventable diseases. Data and information related to the safety, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness of available or pipeline vaccines will be needed to inform decision-making by low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to invest in and implement maternal immunization strategies. This understanding will also be critical to identifying the potential of vaccine delivery and packaging technologies to improve upon both the current and future state of maternal immunizations with select and high-priority vaccines. Opportunities may exist to integrate such technologies into different presentations and delivery formats of maternal immunization vaccines to help better achieve global public health objectives and goals. To date, a number of different packaging and delivery technologies have been developed to improve safety, efficacy, cost- and program effectiveness, and ease of administration, as well as other potential program benefits. Technology examples include compact prefilled autodisable devices (cPADs), microarray patches (MAPs), and intradermal (ID)-capable technologies such as the ID adapter and disposable-syringe jet injectors (DSJIs).
This report presents the results of primary and secondary research that provides insight into countries’ top priorities for maternal immunization and characterizes the market for adult immunizations in select LMICs. It outlines the landscape of vaccines with known and potential value in maternal immunization, summarizes global stakeholder and country-level program priorities for maternal immunization programs, provides demand estimates for high-priority maternal vaccines, and summarizes regulatory requirements. The results are from both desk research and in-country surveys.
