Merck's desperate and heartless attempt at a massive cash grab with Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine
- From: "TC" <tunderbar@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 15 Feb 2007 07:49:42 -0800
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=ac5mef3fBJbA&refer=home
Merck Cancer Vaccine's Cost Is Delaying U.K. Funding (Update5)
By Andrea Gerlin
Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Merck & Co.'s Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine
may not be widely available in the U.K. for 18 months unless a
government panel approves its 241.50 pounds ($470) price this week.
Governments and insurers in at least 11 countries, including the U.S.,
Germany and Australia, have agreed to pay for the product, the first
vaccine to prevent a common cancer. A committee that sets U.K. vaccine
policy considered today whether the national health system will pay
for the shot, a ruling that would spur immunization of girls and young
women.
The U.K. government, like counterparts in Germany and France, is
trying to contain expenses as its health-care budget deficit
approaches 547 million pounds. The panel has been debating for three
years whether to reimburse for the vaccine, which is given in three
doses over six months.
``It's probably the most difficult problem they've had in a while,''
said Mubasher Sheikh, a McKinsey & Co. health-care consultant based in
London. ``This is going to involve investment up front for a payoff
that's way off.''
Merck's Gardasil won U.S. regulatory approval in June and was cleared
for sale in Europe in September as the first vaccine against infection
by the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, known as HPV.
Gardasil may generate as much as $3 billion in annual sales for Merck,
the third-largest U.S. drugmaker, according to Tony Butler, a drug
industry analyst at Lehman Brothers Holdings in London.
A rival vaccine, Cervarix from London-based GlaxoSmithKline Plc, the
world's second largest drugmaker after Pfizer Inc., is being reviewed
by European regulators. The company plans to file for marketing
approval in the U.S. by April. The product may generate annual sales
of 600 million pounds by 2010, according to DZ Bank AG drug analyst
Thomas Maul in Frankfurt.
Prevent Deaths
Gardasil and Cervarix guard against 70 percent to 80 percent of
cervical cancers and may prevent the deaths of 800 of the 1,100 women
a year in the U.K. who develop the disease, doctors estimate.
``It's not very often that we have the opportunity to vaccinate and
reduce cancer cases,'' said Clare Morgan, a 31- year-old enrolled in a
U.K. study of Cervarix. ``We need to seize the opportunity and try to
do something about it.''
Glaxo shares rose 16 pence, or 1 percent, to 1,493 pence at the close
of trading in London, and have climbed 11 percent this year. Merck
shares rose 11 cents, or less than a percent, to $44.06 at 4 p.m. in
New York Stock Exchange composite trading, and have risen 27 percent
in the past 12 months.
Annual Cost
Vaccinating all 365,000 11-year-old girls in the U.K. would cost 88.1
million pounds at Whitehouse Station, New Jersey-based Merck's list
price, which is more than many other vaccines cost.
A program that includes all females from ages 11 to 25, as well as
males who can become infected and transmit the virus, could push the
price tag past 2 billion pounds in the first year. The U.K. National
Health Service's annual budget is about 100 billion pounds.
``What we have to show is that it's cost-effective compared to other
interventions,'' Andrew Hall, chairman of the U.K.'s Joint Committee
on Vaccination and Immunisation, said in an interview.
A committee sub-group last year said the benefits of vaccinating boys
are ``unlikely to justify the likely cost,'' according to minutes of a
Sept. 22 meeting. A Department of Health spokeswoman today said today
that she couldn't say when the panel's recommendation will be
released.
Mass vaccination may divert money needed for the national cervical
screening program, or lead women to mistakenly believe cancer-
detecting Pap smear tests aren't necessary, doctors said. The program
analyzes 4.5 million Pap smears a year from women ages 25 to 65 at a
cost of 157 million pounds, and has helped reduce cervical cancer
deaths to 3.6 per 100,000 women since 1988.
Parental Concerns
``We have a cervical screening program, which is the envy of the
world,'' said Thomas Ind, a gynecological surgeon in London. ``Whether
it will continue to be as effective if you have a cervical cancer
vaccine, I doubt it will be.''
Some parents may bristle at vaccinating girls against a sexually
transmitted virus, said Ind, who has a 7-year-old daughter. A survey
of 684 mothers of 8-year-old to 14-year-old girls found 12 percent of
respondents were concerned the vaccine might promote promiscuity,
according to London-based charity Cancer Research UK.
A committee sub-group said in September that it would make a
recommendation to the full membership in early 2007 provided it knew
whether the vaccine protected against genital warts caused by HPV, if
booster doses are needed and whether the government ought to immunize
older age groups. Merck and Glaxo have estimated their vaccines will
be effective for at least five to 10 years.
`Disappointed'
Gardasil's maker says it is concerned no funding decision will be made
this week because the sub-group won't meet until Feb. 28.
``I'll be very disappointed, very disappointed if they weren't able to
come to a decision,'' said Richard Stubbins, managing director for the
U.K. and Ireland of Sanofi Pasteur MSD, a venture between Merck and
Sanofi-Aventis SA that markets Gardasil in Europe.
The full committee next meets in June. A decision then would be too
late for children to be vaccinated during the 2007- 2008 school year,
said Pamela Morton, director of U.K. cervical cancer charity Jo's
Trust.
A delay would save the government a year of costs as it awaits
approval of Glaxo's vaccine, Anne Szarewski, a researcher for Cancer
Research UK, said. Two vaccines on the market may spark a price war,
she said.
****
The sad thing is that the vaccines are a hoax and a scam to begin
with.
TC
.
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