The World Vaccine Congress of this year will be held at Lyon, France from 11 to 13 October.

The congress will discuss the topics related with - Key issues for vaccine development, supply and delivery for emerging manufacturers; Advances in vaccine pipeline and clinical development; Developing new delivery methods for global immunization; regulatory issues and obstacles facing new vaccine delivery systems; future for adjuvants etc.

The conference will start with the key-note presentation of Carol Bellamy, Executive director, UNICEF which will be followed by the presentations of other senior executives of companies like GAVI, Serum Institute of India, WHO, The Vaccine Fund, FDA, NIBSC, AFSSAPS and PATH Europe.

The vaccine market place is growing by at least 10 per cent per year and is estimated to be worth $10bn by 2010. This is due to both the development of brand new vaccines and to the increased world coverage of existing ones. Many companies are seeing the potential in the market and adapting their technologies to fulfil the need of this booming industry. Competition is increasing for all producers but even more so for the suppliers of services, technology and products to the industry, the officials said.