Merck & Co.’s blockbuster vaccine Gardasil has had a roller-coaster ride in China. A post-Covid surge in demand for the cancer-preventing shot quickly deflated last year, to the point the US pharmaceutical giant made the call earlier this week to halt shipments.

Shares of Merck slid Tuesday after the drugmaker surprised Wall Street with a lower-than-expected 2025 sales forecast due partly to a pause in shipments of one of its top-selling products to China. The drugmaker plans to temporarily pause shipments of its Gardasil vaccine to China at least through the middle of the year.

The continued decline of Merck & Co.’s HPV vaccine Gardasil in China has come to a head as the New Jersey drug giant is halting shipments to the world’s second-most populous country. | The recent decline of Merck & Co.