This is extremely good news for literally millions of children in the developing world -- including India, parts of South America, and much of Africa. Merck and GlaxoSmithKline are going to make supplies of Rotateq® and Rotarix® (respectively) available for about $5 per course, through the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization ("GAVI").Here is a bit of the Reuters item -- do go read it all:
. . . .GAVI said on Tuesday its cut-price deal would allow it "to respond to ever-increasing demand from developing countries" and provide the shots this year for 3 million children in eight poor countries.
By 2016, GAVI said it planned to roll out the vaccines in more than 40 of the world's poorest countries, immunizing more than 70 million children.
Around 95 percent of the contracted supply of 132 million doses will be procured at a cost of $5 per two-dose course, GAVI said in a statement. This is a two-thirds price cut compared to the previous lowest price offered to GAVI of $15 a course.
In the United States, the same vaccine course costs public institutions $177 and private health providers $213. . . .
Kudos to Merck and GSK!
Condor - a salient point from the Reuters reporting:
ReplyDelete"A spokesman for GSK, which will supply 95 percent of the GAVI contracted doses, said the British drugmaker was glad to be contributing to efforts against preventable diseases."
Not to be Debbie Downer for Merck but does this mean that Merck donated their 6.6 million courses outright or charged more/less than GSK's $5/course?
The full Reuters account: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/09/vaccines-gsk-merck-rotavirus-idUSL6E8F59V120120409?feedType=RSS&feedName=industrialsSector&rpc=43
Interesting, Anon. --
ReplyDeleteI took the other press reports of the GAVI program -- along with the Reuters' reporting -- to mean that 95 percent of all the doses will be at $5 per two dose course, regardless of manufacturer.
It is likely true that the bulk of the doses will come from GSK, and also likely true that only recently did Merck reconcile itself to the fact that -- if GSK is going to sell in the developing world at $2.50 per dose -- Merck won't sell a bit of Rotateq® in those markets, unless it agrees to match the price.
And so -- Whitehouse Station belatedly agreed to join the GAVI initiative. So it will get some sales (at $5 per course; $2.50 per dos), in Africa, lower South America, India and the rest of the developing world's markets -- as opposed to being shut out, on price competition.
Still -- I applaud the partial return of the old Merck ethos to "do the right thing", here under Chairman Ken Frazier.
Namaste
And to add to your posting ... hpv also being supplied ... here is the linkhttp://www.cervicalcanceraction.org/newsletters/2011-06/CCA_news_June11.htm
ReplyDelete... wonder if they will only supply two doses since three doses (as initially recommended) would be considered genocide in the USA, which is illegal.
I am puzzled by that, Anon. No. 2.
ReplyDeleteI assume you meant to make a joke -- and you are a different Anon. than the first one -- that much my IP addressing logs do show.
I do not find your "three dose/genocide" statement funny in any way.
That's your one and only warning.
Next time, you'll be edited/deleted.
Namaste, to all of good will.
Condor - my comment was NOT meant as a joke ... and in fact children that already have autoimmune disorders such as hemochromatosis/hfe/anemic dysfunction could be critically injured by the HPV vaccine. Merck openly admitted in an FDA meeting that they never tested the vaccine on ANYONE in these categories ... and since hemochromatosis is the MOST PREVALENT genetic trait in the USA, I believe Merck was negligent by not including those individuals in the testing. If Merck intends on purposely eliminating groups of people from their test samples and therefore deceptively reporting the safety of a vaccine to the FDA advisory panels, then the vaccine should never have been approved and their safety results (as reported) would be inaccurate. If Merck is going to suggest a vaccine is safe for everyone, then they should be REQUIRED to include everyone (from all walks of life) in their testing. Otherwise, they should recommend that all physicians test for autoimmune disorders prior to vaccination and suggest those individuals NOT be given the vaccine. Multiple doses of a vaccine containing metal adjuvants is simple not safe for many individuals.
ReplyDeleteAnon #1 here - Anon #2, there is no way to include EVERY type of patient in a study. I am not a doctor or in the target group for the vaccine but when i do visit my physician we usually have an informed chat about anything that I need in the way of drugs or vaccines.
ReplyDeleteFor instance he recommended a Hep B vaccine but also told me the majority of people with the virus don't know they have it - and I had no idea if i did or didn't so I was not going to blindly vaccinate. One clear Hep B test later and on we went.
Patients are just as, if not more responsible as their healthcare providers and drug companies to make informed decisions about their health. If you feel exposure to ingredients in the HPV or other vaccines is unsafe for you because of an underlying condition, you should be speaking about it to your physician before commencing treatment.
http://sanevax.org/hpv-vaccine-vaers-reports-march-2012/#comments
ReplyDeleteAbove is a link to the latest data on the Gardasil vaccine as reported to the FDA through their VAERS system (vaccine adverse event reporting system).
Give me a break with these whacked out posts. That chart is an analysis done by someone from that SaneVax organization and it combines reports from Gardasil and Cerivax. Until someone with credibility says either is unsafe, which is completely contrary to the throngs who say both are exceedingly safe, SaneVax will remain another left field anti-vaccine coalition of the ill-informed.
ReplyDeleteThese smart women are doing the FDA's job for them ... the FDA should be thanking them since they obviously aren't doing their job! Try to get someone at the FDA to address the issue ... ask the FDA what the numbers are as THEY collect the data ... or if they've even looked at the VAERS database and put anything together. Why have the system in place at all if it isn't going to be used to learn something?! This is complete BS that nobody is helping these innocent children. Talk about a war on cancer ... it makes me sick that these innocent families got caught in the middle of it. 'Left field' ... I think not!
ReplyDelete