Cost benefit analysis of cervical cancer vaccines sees Gardasil beat Cervarix

An analysis of cervical-cancer vaccine has shown that Merck & Co’s (NYSE: MRK) Gardasil (human papillomavirus quadrivalent [types 6, 11, 16 and 18] Vaccine, Recombinant), is more cost-effective than Cervarix (human papillomavirus bivalent [types 16 and 18] vaccine, recombinant), a rival product from GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK). The review was conducted by researchers from the UK’s Health Protection Agency, led by Mark Jit, which was posted on the British Medical Journal web site.

The study was designed to compare the effect and cost effectiveness of bivalent and quadrivalent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, taking into account differences in licensure indications, protection against non-vaccine type disease, protection against disease related to HPV types 6 and 11, and reported long term immunogenicity.

The HPA report implies that the current price the government pays for Cervarix represents a false economy, and that GSK must price its vaccines much lower if it is to be as cost-effective as Gardasil. It suggests that Cervarix would need to cost £19-£35 ($29.33-$54.03) less per dose than Gardasil for it to be as cost-effective.