Threat of influenza pandemics encourages three major drug makers to finalize deals which will give them rights to new flu vaccines which are the industry’s riskiest but brightest segments currently.

This change of conviction towards vaccines against the aging blockbusters shows that there is an increasing chance of growth in this sector.

Vaccine sales are growing faster than sales of other prescription medicines and these are also hugely immune to competition which is costing drug makers billions of dollars in revenues on their top-selling treatments.

Recently government agencies worldwide are becoming increasingly reliable buyers of vaccines as they seek to stockpile medicines that could help protect the public in case of a major flu outbreak.

"If you have a new vaccine for a new type of meningitis or swine flu, that clearly is a major public-health issue and, therefore, the willingness to pay is going to be greater," said Murray Aitken, senior vice president of health-care insight at IMS Health.

Big drug companies have re-entered the business of making vaccines as the prices have gone up and researchers are developing improved technologies for better production.

Vaccines are especially attractive to drug companies looking to Brazil, Cjina and other similar markets for growth.

It is suggested that infectious disease is moving up the list of what the managements of some big therapeutics companies care about.