Price Breaks for HPV Vaccines May Aid Prevention

The 2 pharmaceutical companies that make vaccines against the human papilloma virus (HPV) agreed in May to cut their prices for poor nations from $13 per dose to $4.50 for Merck's Gardasil and $4.60 for GlaxoSmithKline's Cervarix. The vaccines prevent cervical cancer by protecting against infection by high-risk types of HPV.

“This price cut is a good decision,” says Alfred (Ben) Jenson, MD, an immunobiologist at the Brown Cancer Center at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, whose team did key research for the HPV vaccines sold by the 2 firms. “Cervical cancer is a really painful disease for women. Whatever works best to protect women in undeveloped countries, I am for it.”

The World Health Organization estimates that 242,000 women in developing nations die from cervical cancer each year. “In poor countries, screening and treatment for cervical cancer is virtually nonexistent,” says Nina Schwalbe, MPH, managing director of policy and performance at the GAVI Alliance in Geneva, Switzerland. “It's prevention that's going to make a difference and help save lives. We're really excited about the development of cancer vaccines.”

Created in 1999 to extend the reach of vaccines into the developing world, GAVI negotiated the new prices. Schwalbe says that prior to the price cuts, the vaccines were virtually unattainable in developing nations due to cost. By 2020, the GAVI vaccination program plans to reach 30 million girls in more than 40 countries, thanks to the lower prices.

GAVI currently vaccinates 50 million children, typically babies, each year with a variety of vaccines, but the HPV vaccines present a new challenge. The World Health Organization recommends them for girls ages 9 to 13, an age group that is much harder to reach than infants.

“Girls get vaccinated when they are babies, but the next time they typically see a health care provider in poor countries is when they are pregnant,” says Schwalbe. “These vaccines are an opportunity to reach them in between and also deliver messages about nutrition, family planning, and things that can help girls have a better life.”

In addition to rolling out the vaccines, GAVI is monitoring ongoing studies investigating whether a 2-dose regimen of HPV vaccines is as effective as a 3-dose regimen, the current standard. “The more efficiently we can give these vaccines, the more chance we have of reaching and protecting more people,” says Schwalbe.