Shingles vaccine in short supply at GSK's request

Shingrix, the new shingles vaccine from the British drug giant, GlaxoSmithKline, is so much in demand that it lacks patients in the United States, posing both a public health problem and a future blessing for the drug. fortune of Glaxo.

"Due to strong demand for GSK's Shingrix vaccine, GSK has put in place order limits and suppliers have experienced delivery delays and it is expected that these order limits and delivery delays will continue throughout the year. year-round 2018, "notes the Center for Disease Control (CDC) on its vaccine shortage website." In response, GSK has increased the US supply available for 2018 and plans to distribute doses to all types of clients on a consistent and predictable schedule for the remainder of 2018. Overall, the supply of Shingrix in 2018 is sufficient to support the vaccination of more patients in 2018 than vaccinated against shingles in 2017 . "

Shingles, also known as shingles, can be contracted by anyone who has ever had and recovered from chicken pox. It usually affects the elderly, and nearly one-third of the population should develop shingles at one time or another.

Prior to the approval of Shingrix by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for US markets in late October 2017, there was only one vaccine against shingles: the Zostavax from Merck. Part of the reason for the massive demand is that the CDC has endorsed Shingrix rather than Zostavax in older populations – and these populations seem to have received the message.

But the shortfall also underlies a promising business case for GSK. Analysts had already estimated potential sales of Shingrix at nearly $ 2 billion a year at its peak; current demand could mean that potential sales will be even higher if Glaxo can maintain its production in line with market expectations.

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