Merck Increases Measles Vaccine Production Against Increased Demand from the United States

Merck & Co announced Wednesday that it has increased measles vaccine production to meet growing demand in the United States at the heart of the country's largest bird flu epidemic in 25 years.

Merck, the only US provider of measles vaccines, said the increased demand was noticeable but did not constitute an outbreak and that it did not require a significant increase in distribution across the country.

"Despite what we've seen as a huge rise in the number of cases … the demand side of the equation has not exceeded our underlying capacity," Mike Nally, Merck's director of marketing, who also heads Global Human Health companies. company, said in an interview.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 704 cases of measles as of April 26, an increase of 1.3% from the 695 reported last week. The vast majority of cases have occurred in children who have not received the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (MMR), and public health officials are working to ensure immunization.

The measles virus is highly contagious and can cause blindness, deafness, brain damage or death. It is currently spreading through hatching in many parts of the world.

US authorities have estimated that the disease was eliminated in 2000, but epidemics still occur as infected travelers expose vulnerable populations to the virus, particularly in communities where many skeptics are vaccinated.

In the United States, adults who were vaccinated against measles decades ago may also need a new dose of the vaccine, depending on when they received the vaccine and if they live in an outbreak area or plan to go there, according to public health experts who are battling the outbreak.

Merck said Tuesday that sales of MMR and chickenpox vaccines in the United States increased 10 percent to $ 343 million in the first quarter.

Nally said that much of this increase came from sales to private clinics, which pay more than the government for vaccines, rather than an increase in volume.

He said that there were pockets of demand for the vaccine around areas where there have been cases of measles. The current outbreak is concentrated in New York, where officials said more than 390 cases had been recorded since October, mostly among children of Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn.

However, Merck has not seen a significant increase in its purchases from the CDC, a major provider of the pediatric population through its Vaccines for Children program.

Nally de Merck said the company thought it could respond to this new demand.

"While measles outbreaks have occurred in different parts of the world in recent decades, we have always been able to increase our production capacity and we are confident that we can do so in the United States. United, "he said.