Merck Reaffirms Commitment to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to Supply Low- and Middle- Income Countries with its HPV Vaccine
April 25, 2024 2:43 pm ET
On track to exceed goal of supplying 100 million doses of HPV vaccine to
Gavi-supported countries through 2025
Merck remains committed to providing a reliable supply and equitable access
to our vaccines for people who use them around the world
RAHWAY, N.J., April 25, 2024 – Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, today reaffirmed its previously announced commitment to helping Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, through an agreement with UNICEF, in achieving its goal of vaccinating millions of girls against Human Papillomavirus (HPV) by 2025 by providing access to its HPV vaccine in low- and middle-income countries where the burden of disease is the highest.
Merck has updated its initial commitment to supply a total of 115 million doses through 2025, an increase of approximately 20 million doses, to appropriately support local immunization programs.
“We remain fully committed to the success of our long-standing collaboration with Gavi and UNICEF and are focused on enabling access to our HPV vaccine where some of the most vulnerable populations live,” said Chirfi Guindo, chief marketing officer, Merck. “Central to our purpose at Merck, vaccine equity and access for people in low- and middle-income countries are examples of how we are helping to address some of the world’s most serious health concerns. We have made significant investments in our vaccine production capacity to urgently increase HPV vaccine supply to meet the growing global demand. As a result, we expect to supply sufficient quantities of HPV vaccines to meet anticipated demand for all of our HPV vaccines in 2025 and will continue to expand our supply capacity in the future.”
Merck’s collaboration with Gavi has been in place since the inception of the Alliance. In 2017, Merck entered into a collaboration with Gavi and UNICEF to supply its HPV vaccine in Gavi-eligible countries. Since that time, Merck invested more than $2 billion to quadruple its global supply of HPV vaccines with the proportion supplied to Gavi far outpacing this overall supply growth.
About Merck
At Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, we are unified around our purpose: We use the power of leading-edge science to save and improve lives around the world. For more than 130 years, we have brought hope to humanity through the development of important medicines and vaccines. We aspire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company in the world – and today, we are at the forefront of research to deliver innovative health solutions that advance the prevention and treatment of diseases in people and animals. We foster a diverse and inclusive global workforce and operate responsibly every day to enable a safe, sustainable and healthy future for all people and communities. For more information, visit www.merck.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.
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