by Brenda Baletti, Ph.D., Childrens Health Defense:
Merck today announced two new initiatives for growing the global market for its human papillomavirus, or HPV, vaccines. The initiatives include the pharmaceutical giant’s first single-dose HPV shots plus multivalent HPV vaccines designed specifically for Asian and African populations.
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Pharmaceutical giant Merck today announced two new initiatives for growing the global market for its human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines.
The company is developing a new investigational multivalent — meaning it targets many virus strains — HPV vaccine aimed at HPV types known to disproportionately affect African and Asian populations and people of African and Asian descent, the company said. Merck said it will begin testing the vaccine in humans in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The company also plans to launch two separate multiyear clinical trials to test the efficacy of a single dose of its Gardasil 9 HPV vaccine in females and males ages 16-26, in contrast to the company’s three-dose regimen for the currently approved Gardasil shots. That trial also will start at the end of 2024.
Since 2019, Merck has invested more than $1.6 billion in manufacturing plants to increase the global supply of Gardasil. It nearly doubled its supply between 2017 and 2020 and again between 2020 and 2024 and plans to continue to grow its supply capacity, it stated.
Merck’s reported global 2023 profits from its Gardasil product line were $8.9 billion, up 29% from the previous year.
The company is currently facing 143 lawsuits in federal court from people who suffered a range of serious injuries after taking Gardasil, including autoimmune disorders, premature ovarian failure and cancer. There are also over 200 Gardasil injury claims pending in the Vaccine Court.
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