The renaissance in the vaccine market continues with strong growth and new prospects to continue to grow this part of the market, which now stands at about $25 billion. Once a commodity market with low margins, the vaccines on the market now include blockbusters and megablockbusters. New candidates for vaccinating against cancers and HIV are also projected to hit the magic milestone. The market is expected to return a compound annual growth rate of more than 8% through 2018, EvaluatePharma projects, with some segments like adult vaccines showing even better.



A big part of the growth in vaccine sales has been in the adult influenza market with the big focus on flu prevention and an acceptance of adult vaccines. There is a chance that the results from the demonstrably bad flu season in the U.S. this year may affect what happens next year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently noted that only 56% of people who received the jab were protected from influenza, on the very low end of effectiveness spectrum. It was particularly ineffective among the elderly, one of the key target groups. The results led CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden to lament, "We simply need a better vaccine against influenza, one that works better and lasts longer."



Still, the FDA last year approved two quadrivalent, or four-strain, vaccines, Fluarix Quadrivalent from GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) and MedImmune's FluMist Quadrivalent. An FDA panel recently endorsed a move to quadrivalents in the U.S., a decision that will help the influenza vaccine market grow. And that doesn't take into account that the vaccination rate in the U.S. still remains below 50%.



For all of the new developments and growth, vaccines are a market primarily made up of a handful of significant players, with another handful of small operators. In 2012, the top 5 vaccinemakers captured more than 90% of vaccine sales, according to figures from analysts at EvaluatePharma.



Here we present the Top 5 vaccine companies based on their 2012 vaccine revenues, filtered out of company reports by EvaluatePharma. Take a look and let us know what you think. We always like to hear how you view and evaluate the data. -- Eric Palmer (email | Twitter) | Alison Bryant

1 Sanofi

2 Merck

3 GlaxoSmithKline 4 Pfizer

5 Novartis