Sanofi Pasteur MSD claims Gardasil vaccine has greater benefits

Source: Healthcare Exec

Date :08/02/2008 10:05:51

Sanofi Pasteur MSD claims its Gardasil vaccine has greater benefits than GlaxoSmithKline’s struggling new cervical cancer vaccine Cervarix.

Sanofi Pasteur MSD investors claimed Gardasil, which was developed by Merck & Co Inc, had greater proven health benefits in preventing human papilloma virus infections, the leading cause of cervical cancer.

'Marketing gimmick'

Didier Hoch, head of SPMSD, a joint venture between Sanofi-Aventis and Merck for European marketing of vaccines, claimed published GSK results on Cervarix were less conclusive and dismissed as “a marketing gimmick” its clinical study directly comparing the two products.

His comments come ahead of GSK’s annual results presentation today, at which the UK pharmaceuticals company will face questions over delays in winning US regulatory approval for Cervarix.

While Gardasil has already been launched in the US and Europe, Cervarix, which began development more recently, has been struggling to catch up.

Despite winning European approval last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is still demanding extra information on Cervarix. This could delay its US launch as late as 2010.

February 07, 2008