Pediarix or Pentacel? That Is the Question

Background:
Pediarix and Pentacel offer health care providers two vaccine backbone options around which to build their pediatric vaccine formulary. The price of each vaccine is only one factor in making this decision. An operations research vaccine selection algorithm is used to help vaccine purchasers identify which of these vaccine they should purchase, based on the lowest overall cost formulary. The algorithm considers distinguishing features of economic consequence among all competing vaccines.

Objectives:
Demonstrate how the vaccine selection algorithm can be used to determine which pentavalent vaccine (Pediarix or Pentacel) is best suited for their particular immunization environment.

Methods:
The vaccine selection algorithm is reverse engineered over several scenarios to determine the appropriate public sector price for Pediarix or Pentacel. These prices provide objective information for public-health decision makers to compare the economic value of these vaccines and to determine which of these vaccines provides the best value for their immunization environment.

Results:
The value of each combination vaccine depends on the distribution for the cost of an injection, the number of doses of the vaccine that earn a place in the lowest overall cost formulary, and the price of all competing and noncompeting vaccines. The results reported are transferable to the private sector, using appropriate private sector pricing information.

Conclusions:
The vaccine selection algorithm provides a rational tool for assessing the appropriate price for pediatric combination vaccines.