BEIJING (Reuters) -Merck’s human papillomavirus vaccine has been approved for men in China, it said on Wednesday, providing the U.S. drugmaker a much-needed boost in a key market where demand has been falling among women.
The shot, Gardasil, is already approved for women, but the vaccine’s distributor in China has reduced stock due to weak demand. Merck has said weak sales in China were likely to continue in 2025.
This is the first HPV vaccine for men to be approved by China’s National Medical Products Administration and can be used by children and men aged between 9 and 26 years to prevent certain cancers and HPV-related diseases, the company said.
HPV is a common cause for cervical cancer in women, while it increases the risk of genital warts and several types of cancers among men.
After blockbuster cancer treatment Keytruda, Gardasil has been one of Merck’s top growth drivers outside the U.S.
Much of its international growth came from China after it was approved for women in 2017, but its sales took a hit in the recent quarters with revenue from the vaccine dropping 11% to $2.31 billion in the quarter ended Sept. 30.
Merck has said its demand was also impacted by Beijing’s anti-corruption campaign that caused huge business disruptions and led to multinational drugmakers losing engagement with hospitals.
The company’s overall sales in China slumped 40% to $996 million in the third quarter from $1.67 billion a year ago.
(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom and Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Hogue, Christopher Cushing and Arun Koyyur)
