A promise to reduce the prices of vaccines in developing countries has been announced by a number of big drug companies, ahead of a conference...at which political leaders will consider how to raise funds for immunisation. The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi)…said...that Serum Institute of India and Panacea Biotec had agreed to reduce the prices of their pentavalent vaccine, which protects against five fatal diseases. And GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to sell a vaccine against diarrhoeal disease in the poorest countries for £1.50 a dose, a twentieth of its £30 price in developed countries…Merck & Co has also pledged to offer its rotavirus vaccine at discounted prices, said the alliance. The various offers are in response to a tender by United Nations Children's Fund, which takes most of the vaccines funded by the alliance.