The Vaccine Wars: Glaxo's Shingrix® Is Besting Merck's Older Zostavax® In The US Market -- On Efficacy, Primarily...

Some pretty respectable sell-side analysts believed that the need for a second jab, in the case of GSK's new shingles vaccine -- called Shingrix^® -- would mitigate its advantage over Kenilworth's Zostavax^®. That however, has not turned out to be the case in the US sales data, thus far.

It seems the GSK rollout was exceeding well-stocked and staged, making it easy to both source the new vaccine stock, and secure reimbursement, at the pharmacies. So -- as Fierce Pharma reported later yesterday, the lead now firmly belongs to GSK. Merck's $600 million a year (in the past) from Zostavax is likely to whither to below $300 million this full year. And in an encouraging note for science -- differential efficacy explains the story:

. . . .The GSK shot is believed to be more effective, though no head-to-head studies have pitted the two vaccines against each other. In phase 3, the two-dose Shingrix showed that it is 97.2% efficacious in those age 50 and older. The CDC says the one-dose Zostavax can reduce shingles risk by 51%.

If there's one problem with those numbers, it's dosing. Deutsche Bank analysts cautioned that Shingrix's two-dose schedule might ultimately hamper sales.

Signs of Shingrix’s rise — and hence Zostavax’s fall — were already showing up late last year. For the fourth quarter, GSK reeled in about $30 million in Shingrix sales, while Merck's Zostavax revenue dropped 45% to $121 million. . . .

Now you know. Onward -- on a simply glorious spring morning, here. . . [But snow is expected (again!) by the weekend. . . Ah, Chicago. . . you fickle-fated friend -- so I'll embrace it and go north -- to the Marquette territory. . . .]

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