And the skew -- of the remaining market opportunity -- is apparently toward public aid-funded patients, not privately insured ones. This means Merck is likely receiving a lower average reimbursement rate, for these still relatively-rare Gardasil® vaccination programs. More here (H/T Ed Silverman, at Pharmalot):
. . . .Only about one in three young women has received the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to help prevent cervical cancer, according to a new report from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. . . .
More than 70 percent of the girls in this study were white, and almost 75 percent had health insurance. Girls living in states with more poverty were less likely to get the HPV vaccine, but higher poverty rates in the individual counties within those states and lower family income levels actually made it more likely a girl would be vaccinated. Pruitt says those seemingly contradictory findings may be explained in part by the way in which funding for vaccines is allocated.
“For the neediest children, the United States has a publicly funded vaccination system, but each state sets its own guidelines for who is eligible to receive free vaccines,” she says. “Individual states set different guidelines for providing vaccines to those with no insurance versus those who may be underinsured. So girls from poorer counties may be more likely to qualify for a free vaccine, whereas those states with more poverty may not have adequate funding to provide it or may be less likely to fill in gaps for those who may not have enough private insurance coverage to pay for it. . . ."
Do go read it all for yourself, but if 75 percent had insurance, Merck may be reaching the end of that pool (fully-insured teens), already. So, the curve is likely flattening out.
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