Programs & Projects

Vaccines play a critical role in improving global health. While the return on investment of vaccines is on average higher than any other health intervention, there is a still a critical need to evaluate the expected return of each individual vaccine presentation. The key driver of the expected return on investment of a vaccine is the price of the vaccine relative to the value that it is expected to generate through increases in coverage/equity. While simple on its face, estimating price and value is often complex since both are multifactorial.

The objective of this work was to provide the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Gates Foundation) and partners (buyers) with a structured way of evaluating and negotiating potential investments related to the manufacturing of specific vaccine presentations. WDI team members hypothesized they could facilitate negotiations between buyers and manufacturers of vaccines by developing a flexible tool that incorporates their respective investment decision drivers and key levers related to price and value. To accomplish the objective, WDI had three aims (1) Understand the investment decision drivers for the Gates Foundation & partners, and potential manufacturers; (2) Identify the key levers that would form the basis of a contract that the Gates Foundation and partners could use in negotiations with potential manufacturers; and (3) Build a tool that the Gates Foundation and partners can use to evaluate scenarios with potential manufacturers. The output of this work is currently being applied to Gates Foundation-related investment questions.