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UICC welcomes commitment to lower prices for HPV vaccines

The GAVI Alliance will be offered the HPV quadrivalent vaccine from Merck at an indicative price of USD 5 per dose, following a landmark announcement from the pharmaceutical company on 6th June.

This is a significant reduction of 67% from the current lowest reference public price provided to the Revolving Fund for Vaccine Procurement of the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO), and a 95% reduction of the USA public price of USD 108 per dose.

This decisive step taken by Merck is encouraging and highly welcome as it can pave the way for future commitments and price reductions that will help tackle the cervical cancer in developing countries where the burden is the highest. Taking into account that available studies show that the HPV vaccines become cost-effective for the poorest countries when they reach a cost per vaccinated girl of less than USD 10 or ~ USD 2 per dose, assuming three doses, plus wastage, administration and programme support, the Merck announcement is helping to reduce the price to a level where it is cost-effective to low-income countries.

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women worldwide. Every year, cervical cancer kills around 275,000 women, with 88% of those deaths occurring in developing countries (53,000 in Africa, 31,700 in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 159,800 in Asia). Another 530,000 new cases are reported each year, four out of five of which are in low-income countries. Virtually all cases of cervical cancer are caused by HPV (human papillomavirus), a highly transmissible infection that cannot be significantly reduced by condom usage. Vaccinating girls before sexual debut to protect against infection is key to the prevention of cervical cancer.

Currently there are two HPV vaccines available on the market. One of them, Merck’s quadrivalent HPV vaccine, protects against infection from HPV types 16 and 18, which are responsible for around 70% of all cervical cancers. It also protects against HPV types 6 and 11 that cause genital warts. Vaccines do not cure existing infection with HPV but do provide protection from the virus before the person is infected. This is why WHO recommends that HPV immunisation programmes initially target girls aged 9-10 through to 13 years with three doses of the vaccine within a period of six months. 

GAVI Alliance partners, GAVI donors, co-financing countries and vaccine manufacturers will assemble to address the need to raise USD 3.7 billion to scale up immunisation programmes between 2011 and 2015. This will allow GAVI to roll out new and prioritised vaccines, including HPV. GAVI has been working with manufacturers to reduce prices on several vaccines and welcomes the commitment made by Merck in time for GAVI’s Pledging Conference for Immunization on 13th June in London. There, GAVI’s existing and new donors will meet to make firm commitments to fund immunisation in the world’s poorest countries.

Cary Adams, CEO of UICC, who will attend the event has stated, “As the leading global organisation dedicated to cancer, UICC welcomes the price reduction offered by Merck. It marks a step in the right direction and a true commitment to make cervical cancer a disease of the past. UICC also commends GAVI’s efforts to make vaccines widely available to those in greatest need. At the same time, we hopes that in the near future similar price reductions can reach the lower middle- and upper middle-income countries, such as the Latin American and Caribbean countries benefiting from by PAHO’s Revolving Fund, that have a high burden of cervical cancer and where large numbers of girls and adolescents are at risk of developing cervical cancer.”

UICC also calls for immediate prioritisation, action and resource mobilisation for improved screening and treatment services for cervical cancer for today’s women who cannot benefit from immunisation. Without substantive changes in screening availability, projected global estimates of cervical cancer deaths will rise to 430,000 by 2030 and over 90% of those deaths will occur in the developing world.

The GAVI Alliance, a Geneva-based public-private partnership of immunisation stakeholders, brings together developing country and donor governments, the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry from both industrialised and developing countries, research and technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private philanthropists. The GAVI Alliance is committed to accelerating access to new and existing underused vaccines, strengthening health systems to deliver immunisation and introducing innovative new immunisation technology. GAVI has helped to prevent more than five million future deaths through routine immunisation and protected many more lives against debilitating illness and disability. From 2000 to 2010, more than 288 million children in the world’s poorest countries have been immunised with GAVI-funded vaccines. GAVI is also a member of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC).

GAVI’s Pledging Conference offers a critical few hours to ensure that funds to support GAVI’s plans to roll out new vaccines including HPV are secured. If you or your organisation wants to be part of this effort, you can contribute by circulating this article and by clicking on “Like” on GAVI’s Facebook page or follow GAVI on Twitter and re-tweet. To find out other ways you can help, go to www.gavialliance.org/about/pledging_conference/how/index.php

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