Gardasil better value for money than Cervarix, finds new study
pharmafile | September 28, 2011 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Cervarix, Gardasil, HPV, cervical cancer
A new report by the Health Protection Agency has found that Gardasil is a more cost-effective vaccine for cervical cancer than Cervarix.
GlaxoSmithKline’s Cervarix is currently the only vaccine for the human papillomavirus (HPV), the cause of 70% of cervical cancers, to be available on the NHS but the firm’s current contract with the government is about to end.
The government could continue to use Cervarix or switch to Sanofi Pasteur/MSD’s rival Gardasil. The tendering process for the vaccination contract has now ended and a decision from the Department of Health may come by the end of this year.
As part of the process the government commissioned the Health Protection Agency (HPA) to analyse the data from these two drugs, to see which was the more clinically and cost-effective.
Its report, published in the British Medical Journal, implies that the current price the government pays for Cervarix represents a false economy, and that GSK must price its vaccines much lower if it is to be as cost-effective as Gardasil.
Because the tendering process is confidential, the HPA created its own economic model to assess which drug was the more cost-effective.
This model suggests that Cervarix would need to cost £19-35 less per dose than Gardasil for it to be as cost-effective.
But even in this situation Gardasil would still be the better option, the HPA says, as it gives a wider range of protection, preventing infection from four HPV strains as well as anogenital warts, whereas Cervarix only protects against two types of HPV strains and not against any form of genital warts.
GSK’s drug has been the only HPV vaccine available on the NHS since 2008 when it won a government contract for a four-year vaccination programme.
Gardasil was also considered in 2008 as a potential candidate for vaccination, but narrowly missed out on winning the contract after GSK offered a lower price for Cervarix.
Sanofi Pasteur confirmed to Pharmafocus that they were involved in the tender process and had submitted Gardasil for consideration for the vaccination programme.
A spokesman for Sanofi would not been drawn on how much the DH would need to pay for its vaccine, but did say: “We have offered a price that is cost effective and excellent value for the NHS.”
He said he was not sure when the government would make its decision, adding that ‘the ball was now in [the DH’s] court”.
GlaxoSmithKline declined to comment on the tender process, but told Pharmafocus that the HPA’s report “acknowledges that Cervarix is likely to prevent more cancer and cancer deaths than Gardasil”.
It added that: “Cervical cancer has always been our focus and we believe that it should be the focus of any public health campaign.”
Ben Adams
Related Content
Cervical cancer experts campaign to increase screening rates and save lives
A coalition of experts fighting to end cervical cancer, referred to as the UK Consensus …
FDA approves Roche’s HPV self-collection screening option
Roche has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its human …
Merck shares results for Keytruda in cervical cancer treatment
Merck, known as MSD outside of the US and Canada, has announced positive results from …
