The 2016 Vaccine Development Pipeline: A special issue from the World Health Organization Product Development for Vaccine Advisory Committee (PDVAC)

Infectious diseases are the leading cause of death among children and adolescents globally, and one of the primary causes of mortality in adults. Most of these deaths disproportionately burden low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and are attributable to infectious diseases that include diarrheal illnesses, lower respiratory infections, human immunodeficiency virus, tuberculosis and malaria. Socio-economic gains have translated into improvements in sanitation systems, clean water supplies, early diagnosis and healthcare accessibility and delivery, with consequent reductions in infectious disease incidence and mortality. However, for the majority of the world\'s population, large scale advancements in public health infrastructure are still far off. For these communities, high-impact, low-cost public health interventions remain a key strategy for driving down the preventable infectious disease incidence and mortality. Principal among these cost-effective measures is immunization; however, some vaccines are u