Merck turns to contract manufacturers to help with Gardasil supply, plans 2023 plant openings

Merck’s Keytruda has dominated headlines at the drugmaker in recent years as it’s racked up new uses and grown into a megablockbuster. But HPV vaccine Gardasil has been churning right along as well, and now huge demand for the vaccine is causing some supply constraints.

Merck has doubled capacity from existing facilities while it builds two new plants but that has not been enough to handle demand that has "skyrocketed," Merck CEO Ken Frazier told an audience at last week’s J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. Merck has now brought in contract manufacturers “in certain areas where we think there might be bottlenecks in our current process," he added.