Home » Vaccine Fact Check » Did Big Pharma Earn Billions by Adding the Hepatitis B Vaccine to the Immunization Schedule?

Did Big Pharma Earn Billions by Adding the Hepatitis B Vaccine to the Immunization Schedule?

By / / Aaron Siri, Big Pharma, chronic hepatitis B, hepatitis B vaccine, Roy Vagelos

Why do some people think that Big Pharma earned billions of dollars by adding the hepatitis B vaccine to the childhood immunization schedule?

How much more would Big Pharma be making if we weren’t vaccinating newborns and infants and we let them get sick, develop chronic hepatitis B infections, cirrhosis, and liver cancer?

The usual suspects…

Did Big Pharma Earn Billions by Adding the Hepatitis B Vaccine to the Immunization Schedule?

Now it is true that the hepatitis B vaccine was added to the routine immunization schedule in 1991.

And it is also true that Big Pharma makes billions from hepatitis B…

Aaron Siri doesn’t tell you that Big Pharma would make much more money if we simply stopped vaccinating kids with the hepatitis B vaccine.

But most of that money comes from treating chronic hepatitis B!

What about all of the money Big Pharma makes from preventing hepatitis B infections?

The hepatitis B vaccine costs just over $17 a dose in the United States vs the $1,362 to $8,100 for a 30-day supply of one of the preferred treatments for chronic hepatitis B.

Not to mention the costs to treat cirrhosis, liver cancer, or for a liver transplant!

Chronic hepatitis B often progresses to cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer), and death, as current treatments just slow the progression of the disease and aren’t a cure.

But to truly understand the cost of chronic hepatitis B (besides people dying), understand that if they end up needing a liver transplant, a patient with chronic hepatitis B will end up with average lifetime healthcare costs of over $440,000!

It is easy to see that it is much more cost effective to prevent chronic hepatitis B infections by vaccinating and protecting everyone, than it is to try and treat them once they get sick.

Is Big Pharma Always Bad?

And in another blow to the idea that Big Pharma is always bad, know that Merck essentially gave their hepatitis B vaccine to China!

“In 1989, when Dr. Vagelos served as the chairman and CEO of Merck & Co. he made a decision to sell the technology of producing the hepatitis B vaccine to China for $7 million, aiming to help the country fight against its biggest threat to public health. In this project, Merck received no profits or royalties from the sale.”

Dr. P. Roy Vagelos receives the Lifetime Achievement Award 2018 at the first Xiong’An International Health Forum

This move made Merck no real money, but helped reduce the number of infants with chronic hepatitis B in China “from 9.7 percent in 1992 to less than 1 percent in 2006.”

“According to Shanghai Daily, in the 1980s, around 120 million carriers of hepatitis B were reported every year in China and 10 percent of newborns acquired chronic hepatitis B from their mothers.”

Dr. P. Roy Vagelos receives the Lifetime Achievement Award 2018 at the first Xiong’An International Health Forum

Infants who won’t have to die from liver failure or liver cancer.

Infants whose lives were saved because they were vaccinated and protected with the hepatitis B vaccine.

More on Big Pharma and the Hepatitis B Vaccine

Last Updated on September 24, 2024