title: Designing pediatric vaccine formularies and pricing pediatric combination vaccines using operations research models and algorithms.
abstract: The National Immunization Program, housed within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the USA, has identified several challenges that must be faced in childhood immunization programs to deliver and procure vaccines that immunize children from the plethora of childhood diseases. The biomedical issues cited include how drug manufacturers can combine and formulate vaccines, how such vaccines are scheduled and administered and how economically sound vaccine procurement can be achieved. This review discusses how operations research models can be used to address the economics of pediatric vaccine formulary design and pricing, as well as how such models can be used to address a new set of pediatric formulary problems that will surface with the introduction of pediatric combination vaccines into the US pediatric immunization market.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, USA.
authors.forename: Sheldon H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Jacobson
authors.forename: Edward C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Sewell
authors.forename: Daniel A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Allwine
authors.forename: Enrique A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Medina
authors.forename: Bruce G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Weniger
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005569:Formularies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs / Q000191:economics; D007115:Immunization Schedule; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D020407:Internet; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D009874:Operations Research; D014481:United States; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration; D014612:Vaccines / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*; D017778:Vaccines, Combined / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards
chemical_list: D014612:Vaccines; D017778:Vaccines, Combined