[Ip-health] Merck may provide cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil at much lower prices in developing countries.

[Ira Glazer]

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=173365

Thursday Dec 21 06:11 AEDT

US drug maker Merck says it is looking into providing cervical cancer
vaccine Gardasil at much lower prices in developing countries.

It aims to make it available within months.

The Australian-developed Gardasil is the first vaccine to protect
against cervical cancer.

Late last month, the Australian government struck a deal with
pharmaceutical company CSL to give all Australian females aged 12 to 26
free access to Gardasil from April next year.

But at a factory price of 120 euros ($A202) a dose, the three-dose
vaccine will hardly be affordable in the developing world where about 80
per cent of cervical cancer deaths occur.

"Merck intends to offer Gardasil at dramatically lower prices," Margaret
McGlynn told Reuters in an interview.

"It is premature to give a specific number. That needs to be worked
through," she said, declining to give further details.

International health experts have been calling for rapid worldwide
access to the vaccine that protects women against the sexually
transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV) which causes most cases of the
disease.

Death rates from the second most common female cancer are on the rise in
the developing world, where more than 95 per cent of women never have a
cervical smear test.

Merck said it was committed to reducing the time lag of 15 and 20 years
between approval of drugs in the West and the time they reach developing
countries.

"We want to shorten that gap as extensively as we can," McGlynn said.

"It is a significant time gain to go from 15 to 20 years gap to what we
hope will be several months."

GlaxoSmithKline Cervarix is expected to be submitted for marketing
approval in April next year, giving Merck a headway of about one year.

"Our view is that we are first in class," Chief Executive Richard Clark
told Reuters.

"It is obvious that the longer (Gardasil is) on the market it certainly
is an advantage to the company."

Clark declined to give any financial estimates.

Gardasil has been developed by Sanofi Pasteur MSD, a 50-50 per cent
joint venture between Merck and Sanofi-Aventis' vaccine division Sanofi
Pasteur.

The vaccine is available in the United States and in 13 European Union
countries.

Some analysts estimate the market for cervical cancer to be worth more
than $US2 billion ($A2.5 billion) in sales.

Earlier on Wednesday, Sanofi-Aventis Chief Executive and Chairman
Jean-Francois Dehecq told Reuters he expected Gardasil sales in Europe
to reach 500 million to 1 billion euros in the next three to five years.

Clark expected the success of recent vaccines, such as Wyeth's
blockbuster Prevnar vaccine against childhood pneumococcal bacteria
infections, to spur companies to increase their focus on vaccines.

"There will be many more large players and more competition," he said.

Sales of Merck's vaccines climbed 64 per cent to $US555 million ($A706
million) in the third quarter of this year.

Next to Gardasil, its new vaccines are Rotateq against rotavirus, a main
cause of childhood diarrhoea, and the Zostavax vaccine against the virus
that causes shingles.