How can early stage economic evaluation help guide research for future vaccines?

• Published in: Vaccine Vol. 40; no. 2; pp. 175 - 177
• Main Authors: Newall, A.T., Beutels, P., Tuffaha, H.W., Hall, P.S., Jit, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 21-01-2022; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Clinical trials; Cost analysis; Cost-Benefit Analysis; Cost-effectiveness; Data collection; Decision making; Drug development; Economic analysis; Economic models; Economics; Evaluation; Funding; Health Technology Assessment; Regulatory approval; Reimbursement; Uncertainty; Vaccines; Value of information; Drug development; Value of information; Decision making; Cost-effectiveness; Health Technology Assessment
• ISSN: 0264-410X; 1873-2518
• DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.11.017

Alongside assessing value for money, early stage economic evaluation can help to provide advanced knowledge (e.g. before phase III trials) of which evidence (model inputs) impact most on the cost-effectiveness [3–5] of a vaccination strategy and how much should be spent collecting data to reduce the uncertainty in each input [6,7]. Substantial research planning is undertaken to ensure clinical trials are powered to establish if a vaccine is efficacious and safe, and early stage economic evaluation analyses offer the opportunity to bring the same rigor to planning for the future assessment of value for money.2 What type of data collection can early stage economic evaluation help direct? The model inputs required go beyond the data routinely collected in clinical trials [8] and include those related to infection transmission (e.g. probability of transmission of the pathogen from an infected person to a susceptible person depending on different types of contact) as well as country specific data on disease burden, healthcare utilisation and costs, etc. Evaluations that include multiple countries may help researchers to better understand the value of reducing uncertainty in input parameters across settings, which is important for international data collection (such as phase III trials) [11].6 Conclusion Early stage economic evaluation offers scope to provide valuable insights to potentially help reduce delays in the funding of vaccines and improve efficiency in funding decisions and vaccine research.