Merck Sharpe and Dohme partners with charity on vaccination programme

Merck Sharpe and Dohme has entered into partnership with humanitarian organisation Project Hope in order to provide pneumococcal disease vaccinations for patients in Nicaragua.

The private-public partnership will see the pharmaceutical company provide more than one million doses of Pneumovax 23 for use in the programme, as well as donating around $700,000 (449,500 pounds) in cash.

This scheme is expected to aid around a million people and is targeted at vulnerable patients, such as the elderly, chronic disease sufferers and HIV/Aids patients.

Dr Edmundo Sanchez, health surveillance director at the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health (Minsa), thanked Merck Sharpe and Dohme for its work in combating a disease which kills an estimated 1.6 million people annually.

He said "With the experience of Project Hope and the resources of Merck, Minsa will be able to coordinate with health professionals across the country … so that people may avoid serious illness and even death."

Last month, Merck Sharpe and Dohme published clinical research data from a trial of its new hepatitis C treatment boceprevir, demonstrating the safety and efficacy benefits of the drug.