Merck's Annual

Merck's Annual Report

Merck's Annual Report, 1912

Discussion of Hepatitis B Vaccine: Prospects for Duration of Immunity

The duration of hepatitis B vaccine-induced immunity was studied in a group of 54 seronegative health professionals who received plasma-derived hepatitis B vaccine (Merck's Heptavax) in 1978 and 1979. Five to seven years later, 52 vaccinees received a booster dose of yeast recombinant hepatitis B vaccine (Merck's Recombivax). Of 54 vaccinees, 47 (87 percent) had a favorable anti-HBs response (g...

Placebos Are Getting More Effective

In interviews with the press, Edward Scolnick, Merck's research director, laid out his battle plan to restore the firm to preeminence. Key to his strategy was expanding the company's reach into the antidepressant market, where Merck had lagged while competitors like Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline created some of the best-selling drugs in the world. "To remain dominant in the future," he told Forbes...

Too fast or not too fast: the FDA's approval of Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil.

There are not many public health issues where views are as extremely polarized as those concerning vaccines, and Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil is a case in point. Ever since gaining the FDA's approval in 2006, Merck has been heavily criticized for their overly aggressive marketing strategies and lobbying campaigns aimed at promoting Gardasil as a mandatory vaccine. Subsequently, questions have b...