The investment of €30 million adds to a commitment of €200 million earlier this year in a new strategic vaccine production site in Carlow, Ireland.
"These facilities respond to the strong endorsement of Gardasil® in Europe and worldwide and also exemplify our commitment to investing in Europe to provide the highest quality vaccines possible," says Anne-Marie Graffin, Vice President Business Management at Sanofi Pasteur MSD. "Both Merck and Sanofi Pasteur MSD, Merck's European vaccine joint-venture with sanofi-aventis, are deeply rooted here."
Gardasil® is the only four-type (6,11,16,18) human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. In addition to strong and sustained cervical cancer protection, Gardasil® protects from cervical, vulvar and vaginal pre-cancer, and from genital warts caused by HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18. These four types together cause the vast majority of HPV-related genital diseases.1,2,3
Today, two years after the first approval in 2006, Gardasil® is approved in 107 countries and vaccination with Gardasil® is widely implemented with 34 million doses distributed worldwide (including 8 million doses in Western Europe*)† and 90% global market share. ‡ These figures reflect the strong endorsement by experts, regulators, health authorities, physicians as well as parents and daughters.
HPV vaccination is now recommended in 18 of the 19 European countries in which Sanofi Pasteur MSD markets Gardasil®, and is funded or due to be funded soon in 17 of them§. The vaccine is also recommended and funded in the US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
