Merck cancer vaccine faces Christian-right scrutiny

By Julie Steenhuysen
Sunday, May 21, 2006

Chicago (Reuters) - Merck & Co. Inc.'s vaccine to prevent
the world's most prevalent sexually transmitted infection
sailed through a panel of U.S. health experts, despite
early fears of opposition from the Christian Right that
it might lead to promiscuity and a false sense of
security.

The drugmaker's efforts to educate Christian groups while
touting the vaccine's top selling point -- prevention of
cervical cancer -- helped win them over.

But Merck may ultimately find itself at loggerheads with
those same groups as it seeks to make the vaccine
mandatory for school admission, a step considered key for
widespread acceptance and one that many of the groups
oppose.

The vaccine, known as Gardasil, with an estimated $2
billion U.S. market potential, targets four types of
sexually transmitted human papilloma virus, or HPV, which
is believed to cause more than 70 percent of cervical
cancer cases and 90 percent of genital warts.

"We don't think it should be made mandatory for school
attendance," said Peter Sprigg, vice president of policy
at the Family Research Council, who attended the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel meeting on
Thursday.

That view is shared by evangelical Christian group Focus
on the Family.

"We support the widespread availability of the vaccine,
but we do oppose the mandatory vaccination for entry to
public school," said Linda Klepacki, an analyst for
sexual health for the group.

For Gardasil to be widely adopted, Merck must first win
FDA approval. Then, it must garner widespread backing
from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices --
a group that advises the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention on immunization standards. Both Merck and
analysts deem widespread backing likely.

States would then consider whether it should be included
in the list of vaccinations required for school
admission.

"This is a disease that is completely sexually
transmitted," Klepacki said, unlike the mumps or measles,
which can be transmitted by casual contact. "We believe
that parents should have the final say on whether to
vaccinate their children."

KEY PRODUCT FOR MERCK

Merck faces a host of product liability lawsuits over its
withdrawn arthritis drug     Vioxx and imminent generic
competition for its cholesterol drug Zocor, so the
company has a lot riding on the success of Gardasil.

If the FDA follows the unanimous recommendation of its
expert panel, which is widely expected, Merck will launch
Gardasil in June.

That would give Merck at least a one-year advantage over
GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK.L) , which is developing its own
HPV vaccine called Cervarix.

Cervical cancer is the second-most-common cause of cancer
deaths worldwide. There are nearly a half million
diagnoses and 240,000 deaths each year, Merck said.

Glaxo has estimated the combined global market
opportunity for the new vaccines would be $4 billion to
$7 billion a year by 2010.

"The market isn't really going to develop quickly until
state health departments start requiring it for school
age children," A.G. Edwards analyst Al Rauch said, adding
that the process would take two to five years.

Merck plans to support a school mandate.

"Obviously, we believe school requirements are a very
positive intervention because they do help to increase
access on a state-by-state level to vaccines, especially
for something as important as cervical cancer," Merck
spokeswoman Kelly Dougherty said.

She said Merck would give state health officials data and
information about the vaccine -- the same approach it
used to win initial backing from Christian groups.

The Family Research Council's Sprigg said Merck met
extensively with his group to address concerns that the
vaccine might encourage promiscuous behavior by providing
a false sense of protection against sexually transmitted
disease.

"From the material being reported thus far, we are being
told that they have not found that effect," Sprigg said,
adding, "We are monitoring this."

Dr. Gene Rudd of the Christian Medical and Dental
Associations, which also supports the vaccine but opposes
school mandates, said he believes states could resolve
the matter by building in some wiggle room.

"Our position is to have an easy opt out," he said. "Make
it mandatory in the sense that it is generally accepted,
but parents can opt out."

"TELL SOMEONE"

While Merck awaits FDA approval, it is getting the word
out about Gardasil. The company started seeding the U.S.
market last month with an informational advertising blitz
stressing the link between HPV and cervical cancer.

Merck said it would continue its education efforts while
regulatory agencies around the world review the product.

A U.S. television and print campaign, with the tagline
"Tell Someone," makes no mention of the company or the
vaccine, but Merck is now considering how to integrate
the vaccine into its promotional materials, said Bev
Lybrand, vice president of marketing.

She said the campaign was "born out of the finding that
very little awareness exists among women about HPV and
its consequences."

(Additional reporting by Ben Hirschler in London)

More at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060521/bs_nm/bizfeature_merck_vaccine_dc

The terrorist mission of Jesus stated in the Christian bible:

    "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not so send
peace, but a sword.
    "For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the
daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in
law.
    "And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
- Matthew 10:34-36.

Jai Maharaj
http://tinyurl.com/a5ljc
http://www.mantra.com/jai
Om Shanti

Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust

Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org

The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate

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