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Sebelius on Vaccines

24 Nov 2009

Discussing whether a new $487M investment from the government will help speed up the production of the most important vaccines, with Kathy Sebelius, Health & Human Services secretary and CNBC's Mike Huckman.

The New Formula for Faster Vaccines

24 Nov 2009

Novartis is opening on Tuesday the country's first plant to produce flu vaccines using cell cultures. These vaccines are faster, better and cheaper to make than egg-based methods, reports CNBC's Mike Huckman.

Novartis Opens 1st US Plant for Flu Vaccine

24 Nov 2009

Cholesterol Drug Battle: Niaspan vs. Zetia 16 Nov 2009
Abbott Laboratories' Niaspan beat Merck's Zetia in a new study. CNBC's Mike Huckman has the details.

Cardiologist Grades Cholesterol Drug Study

16 Nov 2009

Abbott Laboratories' Niaspan beat Merck's Zetia in a new study. Dr. Steven Nissen, chairman of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at The Cleveland Clinic, shares his reaction with CNBC's Mike Huckman.

Merck's Cholesterol Drugs Under Pressure

16 Nov 2009

A new study is putting Merck's cholesterol drugs under pressure today, reports CNBC's Mike Huckman, with Ken Frazier, Merck Global Human Health president.

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CNBC ON DIGG

It's a Numbers Game for Merck & Glaxo

Published: Tuesday, 7 Jul 2009 | 12:49 PM ET

Text Size

By: Mike Huckman
Reporter

6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33, 45...hike! It may read like a quarterback's snap countdown, but those are actually the numbers of the strains of the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV) covered by the two vaccines made by GlaxoSmithKline and Merck.

But GSK is still trying to score with the shots.

Merck
Merck's [MRK Loading... () ] Gardasil vaccine has been on the market for a few years now and it has already hit a wall. Not too long ago, Gardasil was considered to be a major new growth driver for Merck. But Gardasil sales fell by one-third in the first quarter of this year as the company is having trouble getting slightly older females to get the pricy set of three shots. Meantime, GSK's [GSK Loading... () ] Cervarix has been delayed in getting to the U.S. market over and over again. It could finally win FDA soon. And although the market for the vaccine, which works against the leading cause of cervical cancer, is a challenging one, GSK may have a bit of an edge. The British medical journal "The Lancet" just published a study showing Cervarix works against five HPV strains versus Merck's four. They both go after the two strains that cause most cases of cervical cancer, but GSK's also targets three other strains that are different from the extra two MRK's targets. It's the Glaxo five versus the Merck four.

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A "Lancet" editorial also points out that real progress against HPV and cervical cancer, which are a very big problem in the developing world, won't be made until guys get vaccinated. Males carry and transmit the virus. Merck is waiting for an FDA decision on whether it can sell Gardasil to guys.

Perhaps reflecting concerns about the size and growth of the market for HPV shots and GSK's late entry, investors are not enthusiastic about the prestigious publication of the company's robust new test results. As I write this, GSK shares are the biggest percentage loser in big pharma.

Time to call an audible.

Questions? Comments? and follow me on Twitter at mhuckman