Sunday, May 21, 2006
Merck cancer vaccine faces Christian-right scrutiny
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.
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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 (MRK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 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.
http://today.reuters.com/business/newsarticle.aspx?type=ousiv&storyID=2006-05-21T161451Z_01_N21244842_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESSPRO-BIZFEATURE-MERCK-VACCINE-DC.XML
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