Merck Shares Rise After CDC Excludes HPV Shots From Draft Agenda

Merck shares rise as much as 2.6% after the draft agenda for an upcoming CDC advisory panel meeting excluded conversations on HPV vaccines.

• Merck makes HPV vaccine Gardasil
• Jefferies analyst Akash Tewari says since HPV vaccines aren’t on the agenda, the ACIP committee likely “won’t discuss/vote on the potential for lowering Gardasil doses down to 1-2 doses vs 2-3 in certain age groups”
• Maternal/pediatric RSV vaccines remain on the agenda and will be voted on
  • “There were some concerns that the new committee might not vote on MRK’s recently approved RSV vaccine for infants (clesrovimab brand name ENFLONSIA), which would ...