by Philip Garbarini '20

Shingrix was just recently added by CVS nationwide, and is now becoming the first and foremost recommended vaccine for shingles. Shingrix is owned by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and received approval by the FDA in late 2017. Many professionals confirmed it was superior to the existing drug treatment, Zostavax, and has been added to the CDC adult immunization schedule this past month.

Shingles is an extremely painful viral infection that often affects adults over 50 years old. 1 in 3 people will eventually develop Shingles in their lifetime, but this statistic is due to change after Shingrix begins to be used by the public. Shingrix proved to have a 90% efficacy rate in the prevention of shingles and will likely safe millions from the infection.

However, Shingrix is certainly no miracle drug, and patients have complained of many side effects after taking the drug. Most complaints were minor, patients had rashes or aches at the site of injection, but around 17% of patients has a severe reaction, preventing their daily activity for one to two days. This could deter some fearful adults from purchasing the vaccine at their local pharmacies.

Economically, the big winner is GSK, who added Shingrix to CVS, Walgreens, and Duane Reade to the growing list of pharmacies. Shares of GSK rose 0.6% percent on Friday morning after CVS announced its implementation of the drug. In contrast, GSK’s competitor, Merck, will likely suffer in the next few months as their product, Zostavax, will likely be phased out due its lack of effectiveness. This has been just another step by GSK in developing its pipeline to large-cap pharma.

The success of Shingrix is completely decided by consumers’ willingness to receive two separate intramuscular injections 6 months apart that could potentially cause severe pain. Shingrix has overcame all of the major barriers for new drugs including FDA and CDC approval, and being taken in by large pharmacies. If it is successfully taken by the majority of adults over 50, it can eliminate the shingles virus by nearly 90%. Shingrix will also be a great indicator of GSK on the effectiveness of new drugs as they continue to develop their pipeline.

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