Biotechnology and the transformation of vaccine innovation: The case of the hepatitis B vaccines 1968-2000

Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Farah Huzair, Steve Sturdy

Abstract

The approval, from 1986, of a series of recombinant hepatitis B vaccines was a landmark both in the growth of biotechnology and in the development of the vaccine innovation system. In this paper, we show how the early development of the hepatitis B vaccines was shaped by a political and economic context that newly favoured commercialisation of academic research, including the appropriation and management of intellectual property; we elucidate the contingent interests and motivations that led new biotechnology companies and established pharmaceutical businesses to invest in developing recombinant vaccines specifically against hepatitis B; and we show how these and other factors combined to make those vaccines an unexpected commercial success. Broadening the scope of our analysis to include not just North America and Europe but also low- and middle-income countries, we show how the development of the hepatitis B vaccines facilitated the emergence of a two-tier innovation system structured by tensions between the demands for commercial profitability on the one hand, and the expectation of public health benefit for low- and middle-income countries on the other.

Citations

Nov 18, 2017·British Journal for the History of Science·Dmitriy Myelnikov
Jan 23, 2020·Immunity, Inflammation and Disease·Afshana QuadiriAgam P Singh
Jul 1, 2020·Annual Review of Virology·Stefan SeitzRalf Bartenschlager
Mar 11, 2020·Frontiers in Immunology·Kyle SaylorChenming Zhang
Jan 12, 2021·Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews·Jatin MachhiBhavesh D Kevadiya
Aug 4, 2020·Infection, Genetics and Evolution : Journal of Molecular Epidemiology and Evolutionary Genetics in Infectious Diseases·Navpreet KaurTanzeer Kaur
May 1, 2021·Vaccines·Jennifer Schwestka, Eva Stoger

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
chemical treatment

Software Mentioned

Biogen

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