Merck, Sharp and Dohme to donate three million doses of Gardasil

Merck, Sharp and Dohme (MSD) has announced that it is to donate at least three million doses of its cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil to support vaccination programmes in the world’s lowest income countries.

The commitment comes as part of MSD’s objective of introducing newer vaccines to the developing world at lower prices.

Margaret G McGlynn, president of Merck vaccines and infectious disease stated: “Our company is fully committed to making Gardasil available to those who need it and we will continue to work with our partners in the international community to develop sustainable solutions to bring Gardasil and other vaccines to the developing world.”

The decision follows a similar introduction of Rotateq, a rota rotavirus vaccine, to the developing world, which MSD also marketed at a lower price and made no profit from.

On distributing Gardasil, MSD has outlined that it will partner up with non-governmental organisations to establish formal criteria for the programme.

Proposals from developing countries will then be reviewed and MSD will provide doses of Gardasil for us in these programmes.

Earlier this year, both the Gardasil and Rotateq vaccines were adopted by the Vaccines for Children (VFC) scheme of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.