Taxonomy of the Full Value of mRNA Influenza and COVID-19 Combination Vaccines

OBJECTIVES: Vaccines confer benefits not only on population health and health systems but also, more broadly, on economies and societies. Narrow vaccine valuations can underestimate vaccine value and reduce access and R&D spending. Vaccine policy, including coverage and budget decisions, should reflect vaccines’ full value. mRNA COVID-19 and influenza combination vaccines (“mRNA combination vaccines”) are currently undergoing clinical trials. No value taxonomy specific to mRNA combination vaccines exists. We developed a taxonomy of the full value of mRNA combination vaccines in the adult population.

METHODS: We performed a targeted literature review (TLR) spanning existing vaccine-agnostic value taxonomies and articles discussing the attributes of influenza vaccines, COVID-19 vaccines, combination vaccines, and mRNA vaccines. We constructed the taxonomy of the full value of mRNA combination vaccines by extracting, synthesizing, and structuring the value elements from the TLR.

RESULTS: We generated a taxonomy for the full value of mRNA combination vaccines. For mRNA combination vaccines, traditional value elements include reduced disease burden, medical costs, patient productivity losses, caregiver burden due to diseases, and herd protection. Key novel value elements include: improved compliance with vaccine schedules leading to increased vaccination uptake and timeliness; increased patient and provider convenience and acceptability, reduced anxiety and trauma associated with vaccination for patients; increased vaccine efficacy due to improved strain selection associated with mRNA platforms; streamlined vaccination ordering and delivery; targeting of multiple pathogens with common clinical syndromes; and equity in coverage.

For next steps, we will elicit expert opinion and explore consensus on priority value elements for assessing and evaluating mRNA combination vaccines. We will engage infectious disease specialists, geriatricians, health economists, pharmacists, patient advocacy experts and healthcare providers from several countries.

CONCLUSIONS: The full value taxonomy with expert consensus has the potential to inform the policy development and implementation strategies related with future mRNA combination vaccines.