Merck reaffirmed its commitment to enable broad equitable access to the company’s HPV vaccines. To support this, the company has invested significantly in manufacturing, and recently expanded its vaccines manufacturing facility located in Elkton, VA, completing the construction of 120,000 square feet and adding 150 new jobs at the site to further increase capacity and supply of the company’s human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, following regulatory reviews and approvals.

“As we continue to increase production of our HPV vaccines, we are prioritizing access in countries with a high burden of disease, including countries eligible for support from Gavi and UNICEF,” said Dr. Priya Agrawal, global lead for HPV Vaccines at Merck. “Through our long-term agreement with UNICEF, we plan to provide 91.5 million doses of our HPV vaccines for use in Gavi-supported countries from 2021-2025, and we have offered additional doses beyond that agreement as needed to help meet growing demand.”

“Increasing supply of our HPV vaccines is a top priority, and over the last several years we have steadily increased our manufacturing capacity in response to growing global demand,” said Jacks Lee, senior vice president, Merck Manufacturing. “Despite the pandemic, our teams have completed the building infrastructure expansion at our Elkton site ahead of schedule and we are excited to reach this important milestone.”

In 2019, Merck committed more than US $1 billion to expand production capacity at existing manufacturing facilities and build new facilities to address the unprecedented global demand for our HPV vaccines. Merck has expanded and maximized its existing facilities, nearly doubling supply of our HPV vaccines from 2017-2020, and has continued to increase supply over the last several years.

Merck expects the supply of its HPV vaccines to double again between 2020-2023 as the company continues to expand capacity at existing facilities and as new facilities come online.