Plan to fund vaccines for third world Several local drug companies stand to benefit.

Pleading hasn't worked. Freebies ultimately fail. Outright pressure can backfire.

So, global health officials will try a different tactic today to enable drug companies - notably several in the Philadelphia area - to help save millions of third-world children from preventable diseases: a guarantee of profitable markets.

Canada, Britain, Italy and Norway are scheduled to introduce a unique $1.5 billion program to fund development of vaccines exclusively for diseases in developing countries. The Advance Market Commitments for Vaccines Against Neglected Diseases program aims to create vaccine markets in certain poor countries by pinpointing needed vaccines in late-stage research, negotiating prices in advance, and reimbursing countries for their eventual purchases - somewhat like a health insurer may cover drug purchases by a patient.

GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C., Merck & Co. Inc., Wyeth and Sanofi Pasteur Inc. stand to benefit directly from the program. At least one, the Merck Vaccine Division in Montgomery County, said it could foresee adding jobs if the program worked as envisioned.

The effort sprang from years of debate and frustration over the industry's retreat from unprofitable emerging markets. Low and unreliable returns had driven many companies to discontinue some vaccines or leave the business entirely.

Today, the remaining vaccine-makers, ironically, are thriving in high-profit markets such as the United States and Europe by charging unprecedented prices for new vaccines. But those pricey products are even less accessible to poorer countries.

The advance-market program is the second recent initiative by wealthy donors and governments - not including the United States - to address the vaccine crisis in the developing world. In November, Britain led creation of a financing organization hoping to sell $5 billion in bonds to support vaccine purchases and distribution.

Combined, the efforts could inject $6 billion or more in coming years into vaccines for developing nations. Drug companies had lobbied quietly for the programs to cover their risks and nurture profitable markets for vaccines that their scientists were passionately pursuing.

"I cannot take shareholder money and put it on a product with no return," said Jean Stphenne, president of GlaxoSmithKline's Belgium-based vaccine division. "Can you do this without public partnerships? No, it's impossible."

Pilot project plan set