Measles, mumps and rubella vaccine(Merck Sharp & Dohme)

iStock, Vladimir Mandic Proquad is rarely a newsmaker from Merck’s earnings, but this time around, the U.S. has had a series of measles outbreaks. Sales of the vaccine were $539 million for the quarter, a 5% decline from the same period in 2024. Sales of Merck’s measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox vaccine Proquad dropped in the first quarter after the U.S. dipped into its six-month pediatric vaccine supply amid a handful of measles outbreaks, the company announced Thursday. Overall, Merck’s worldwide sales declined 2% to $15.5 billion compared to the same period a year earlier, according to a first quarter earnings report released Thursday morning. Also contributing to the decline is a steep drop in revenue from the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil/Gardasil 9 that continues to be impacted by supply challenges in China . Sales of the vaccine fell 41% to $1.3 billion for the quarter. While the decline was steep, Merck said it could have been worse had demand not increased in other regions, particularly in Japan, and the higher pricing in the U.S. also helped offset the losses. Merck saw a 3% decline in its pharmaceuticals business, with sales falling to $13.64 billion for the first quarter. The company said the drop was driven by vaccines, virology and immunology, but as always, cancer blockbuster Keytruda helped offset the losses with 4% worldwide growth to $7.21 billion. Even so, BMO Capital Markets said Keytruda’s sales were a rare miss for the pharma giant, landing 3% below expectations. Proquad, first approved almost 20 years ago, is rarely a newsmaker from Merck’s earnings, but this time around the U.S. has had a series of measles outbreaks that have brought the vaccine back into focus. Merck said that sales of the common childhood vaccine declined as doses were borrowed from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Pediatric Vaccine Stockpile. Sales of the four-way vaccine were $539 million for the quarter, a 5% decline from the same period a year earlier. Offsetting the loss was higher sales of the M-M-R II vaccine, which provides protection against measles, mumps and rubella. Merck attributed this increase to private-sector buy-in due to measles outbreaks and higher pricing. The earnings blip for Merck comes as a measles outbreak spreads across the U.S., primarily driven by unvaccinated people. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 800 confirmed cases as of April 17, across dozens of states and three deaths. There have been 10 total outbreaks in 2025 so far, compared to 16 total for all of 2024. The CDC said that 96% of the cases were in people who were unvaccinated. Meanwhile, new Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to stoke anti-vaccine sentiment, despite acknowledging in early April that a vaccine is the “most effective way” to prevent measles.

近期，美国得克萨斯州的麻疹疫情持续蔓延，引发广泛关注。在此背景下，美国卫生与公众服务部部长小罗伯特・肯尼迪（Robert F. Kennedy Jr.）的态度转变成为舆论焦点，他一改往日对疫苗的质疑，积极宣传麻疹、腮腺炎、风疹三联疫苗（MMR）的重要性。疫情严峻：德州成重灾区，病例数激增此次麻疹疫情在得克萨斯州呈现爆发式增长。截至 4 月 6 日，美国确诊的 642 例麻疹病例中，得州就占了 499 例 。这一数据令人震惊，凸显了得州疫情的严重性。此前，得州已有两名儿童因麻疹死亡，且均未接种疫苗。目前，疫情还在持续扩散，对民众的健康构成了极大威胁。回顾美国麻疹疫情历史，在 1990 年 MMR 疫苗广泛接种前，麻疹病例数曾高达 2.7 万多例。自 MMR 疫苗推广后，麻疹病例大幅减少。但近年来，麻疹疫情却出现反弹。2019 年，美国报告了 1274 例麻疹病例，2020 年受疫情防控影响降至 13 例 ，而 2024 年全年共记录 285 例。此次得州的疫情爆发，使得今年的麻疹病例数已远超 2024 年全年总和。部长发声：态度转变，力推疫苗接种小罗伯特・肯尼迪长期以来对疫苗持有争议性观点。今年 3 月初，他在接受福克斯新闻采访时，曾质疑 MMR 疫苗的效果，称疫苗对部分人 “失效”，还宣扬麻疹感染能带来 “终身免疫”，甚至声称 MMR 疫苗 “每年都导致死亡”。这些言论与科学事实相悖，引发了诸多争议。然而，随着得州麻疹疫情的恶化，小罗伯特・肯尼迪的态度发生了明显转变。4 月 6 日，他在社交媒体 X 上发文称：“预防麻疹传播的最有效方法是接种 MMR 疫苗。” 这一表态与他之前的言论形成鲜明对比。他还透露，3 月已派遣美国疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）的团队前往得州，为当地药房提供 MMR 疫苗，并协助学校和医疗机构开展接触者调查和社区宣传工作。各方行动：药企助力，共抗疫情蔓延面对疫情，各方力量纷纷行动起来。麻疹疫苗制造商积极响应，为抗疫提供支持。默克公司早在 20 世纪 70 年代就将 MMR 疫苗（M-M-R II ）引入美国，此次疫情中，其发言人表示公司 “致力于为当前的疫情应对工作提供帮助”，密切关注疫情趋势和疫苗需求，确保疫苗供应充足。据其称，基于目前已知的需求，默克的 M-M-R II 疫苗供应足以满足符合条件患者的接种需求。除了默克，葛兰素史克（GSK）的 MMR 疫苗 Priorix 也在美国市场发挥作用。Priorix 于多年前在欧洲推出，2022 年进入美国，为美国的 MMR 疫苗供应增添了重要选择。美国疾病控制与预防中心的疫苗委员会也推荐 Priorix 和 M-M-R II 用于常规疫苗接种。尽管疫苗是预防麻疹的有效手段，但目前幼儿的麻疹疫苗接种率却在稳步下降。据 Truveta Research 的一份最新报告显示，这一趋势令人担忧，也为疫情的防控带来了更大的挑战。小罗伯特・肯尼迪在宣传 MMR 疫苗的同时，还提及了一些替代疗法，如雾化布地奈德和克拉霉素，甚至称赞了两位使用替代疗法治疗约 300 名麻疹患儿的 “非凡治疗师”。然而，目前尚无 FDA 批准的针对麻疹的特效治疗方法，维生素 A 是推荐用于治疗重症麻疹的药物，而这些替代疗法的有效性尚未得到科学验证。此次得州麻疹疫情的发展以及小罗伯特・肯尼迪的态度转变，都给我们敲响了警钟。在公共卫生事件面前，科学防疫至关重要。疫苗接种作为预防传染病最经济、最有效的措施，需要得到公众的广泛认可和支持。未来，如何提高疫苗接种率，控制麻疹疫情的进一步扩散，仍需政府、医疗机构、药企以及公众的共同努力。参考来源：https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/rfk-jr-promotes-measles-vaccination-texas-outbreak-continues-its-spread识别微信二维码，添加生物制品圈小编，符合条件者即可加入生物制品微信群！请注明：姓名+研究方向！版权声明本公众号所有转载文章系出于传递更多信息之目的，且明确注明来源和作者，不希望被转载的媒体或个人可与我们联系(cbplib@163.com)，我们将立即进行删除处理。所有文章仅代表作者观不本站。