In each example which level applies is marked with colour and with (A).
Technical feasibility
| Criterion |
Low feasibility |
Medium feasibility |
High feasibility |
| Provenance of pathogen |
No understanding of provenance |
Some understanding of provenance, with limited understanding of epidemiology (A) |
Known disease, with well understood epidemiology |
| Similarity to known pathogen |
Dissimilar, at least in initial analysis, to any known pathogen |
From a known family of pathogens |
Closely related to a well characterized pathogen (A) |
| Can the pathogen be cultured in a laboratory |
Very difficult to culture |
Possible to culture, but lengthy and difficult process |
Can be cultured (A) |
| Complexity and size of pathogen |
Large and complex pathogen |
Medium sized pathogen |
Small and simple pathogen (A) |
| Antigenic diversity |
High genetic diversity, with high mutation rate and lack of annotated genomic data |
Some genetic diversity with moderate mutation rate (A) |
Little genetic diversity, with low mutation rate. Large amounts of well annotated genomic data available |
| Biomarkers for safety/efficacy |
No understanding of biomarkers for safety or efficacy |
Some understanding of biomarkers that may relate to safety/efficacy |
Clear understanding of biomarkers for both safety and efficacy (A) |
| Host-immune response |
No known cases of natural immunity, and pathogen is immune modulatory |
Some cases of natural immunity, but unclear whether this is durable and protective. Pathogen is generally perceived as not being immune modulatory |
Cases of natural immunity which are both durable and protective, pathogen is not immune modulatory, and neutralising antibodies are protective (A) |
| Available model organisms, including human challenge models |
Lack of suitable animal model, and/or suitable human challenge model |
Suitable animal model and/or suitable human challenge model may require some development |
Suitable animal model, and/or suitable human challenge model is available (A) |
Public health value
| Criterion |
Low priority |
Medium priority |
High priority |
| Infectivity or rate of spread of pathogen |
Rapid spread with high attack rate |
Moderate rate of spread and attack rate (A) |
Pathogen is poorly transmitted, spread is very slow, and attack rate is low |
| Case fatality rate/disability burden |
Low case fatality rate/ disability burden |
Moderate case fatality rate/disability burden (A) |
High case fatality rate/disability burden |
| Infectivity before symptom onset |
Not infectious before the onset of symptoms |
May be infectious before the onset of disease (A) |
Highly infectious before disease onset |
| Environmental factors |
Environmental factors are easily modulated |
Moderately difficult to address environmental factors (A) |
Environmental factors cannot be modulated |
| Geographical spread |
Small isolated pockets of disease |
Moderately spread |
Large disseminated disease outbreak (A) |
| Target population |
Lack of clarity on target population, with the level of prevention that is acceptable/desirable unclear |
Some clarity on target population and level of prevention desirable |
Clarity on target population and level of prevention desirable (A) |
| Availability of potential alternatives to vaccination |
There are good alternatives to vaccination currently available which can be rapidly deployed to control the disease outbreak |
Effective alternatives to vaccination could be rapidly developed |
Effective alternatives to vaccination are not currently available and are not on the horizon (A) |
Time scale and cost of development
| Criterion |
Low priority |
Medium priority |
High priority |
| Available vaccine candidate(s) |
No vaccine in development and route map for getting to Phase I trials not yet developed |
Promising candidates exist, and means of rapidly developing to Phase I can be identified (A) |
Suitable vaccine may be in late stages of development |