By Bunmi Yekini
The World Health Organization (WHO) has spotlighted 17 pathogens as top priorities for vaccine development in a landmark study released today in eBioMedicine. The report, a first-of-its-kind global effort, identifies pathogens that regularly impact communities worldwide and urgently require new or enhanced vaccines. This initiative focuses on pathogens responsible for high regional disease burdens, rising antimicrobial resistance, and severe socioeconomic impacts, aiming to advance vaccine R&D with a view toward global health equity.
The pathogens named include long standing priorities like HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis, diseases that collectively claim nearly 2.5 million lives annually. New additions to the priority list, such as Group A streptococcus and Klebsiella pneumoniae, also underscore the mounting challenge posed by drug-resistant infections.
“Too often, global decisions on new vaccines have been solely driven by return on investment, rather than by the number of lives that could be saved in the most vulnerable communities,” said Dr. Kate O’Brien, Director of WHO’s Immunization, Vaccines, and Biologicals Department. “This study uses broad regional expertise and data to assess vaccines that would not only significantly reduce diseases that greatly impact communities today but also reduce the medical costs that families and health systems face.”
The study is part of WHO’s broader Immunization Agenda 2030, which aims to make life-saving vaccines accessible to all, regardless of region. The report consolidates priorities set by experts from various WHO regions, producing a global list to guide vaccine research and manufacturing. “Our goal,” Dr. O’Brien added, “is to provide academics, funders, and manufacturers with a clear, equitable framework for where vaccine R&D could have the greatest impact.”
Experts in the study assessed pathogen priority based on a rigorous analysis of regional disease prevalence and stakeholder input, resulting in tailored top 10 priority lists for each WHO region. From there, WHO synthesized a comprehensive list of 17 pathogens that most urgently need vaccine innovation. The list supports WHO’s R&D blueprint for future epidemics and pandemics, such as COVID-19 and SARS, by focusing on diseases already causing widespread suffering.
Some of the pathogens highlighted in the WHO’s list are already undergoing various stages of vaccine development. For instance, vaccines for pathogens like Dengue virus, Group B streptococcus, and extra-intestinal pathogenic E. coli are approaching regulatory approval and policy recommendation. For others, like Group A streptococcus and hepatitis C virus, significant research is still required to bring effective vaccines to market.
The list also includes pathogens where existing vaccines require improvement or further research, such as Shigella species, Staphylococcus aureus, and non-typhoidal Salmonella. Pathogens like Plasmodium falciparum (malaria) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) were highlighted as those for which vaccines are close to introduction, marking a significant milestone in public health efforts to tackle diseases with enormous health burdens.
Dr. O’Brien concluded by emphasizing that this prioritization is about more than saving lives, it’s about reducing the high economic and social costs that these diseases impose on families and communities. “With this study, WHO hopes to provide a transparent, evidence-based foundation for global vaccine development that ultimately benefits everyone, especially those in low- and middle-income countries who bear the brunt of these diseases.”