Exclusive | Chinese agent orchestrating HPV vaccine protest against US medical firm Merck in Hong Kong is profiting from offering the jab

CKL Consulting organised demonstration against US drug giant over shortage of cervical cancer vaccination Gardasil 9, but firm is linked to group under fire for failing to honour treatment deals while taking orders from new customers

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The protest outside Merck’s Causeway Bay office called for the drug maker to boost its supply of Gardasil 9. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 8:00am, 18 Jun 2018Updated: 2:16pm, 18 Jun 2018

A mainland Chinese agent profiting from offering cervical cancer vaccinations is behind a recent high-profile effort urging a greater supply of an HPV vaccine in Hong Kong, a Post investigation has found.

A protest on June 8 outside the Causeway Bay office of US pharmaceutical firm Merck – known as MSD outside America – called for the drug maker to boost its supply of a vaccine named Gardasil 9, which offers the fullest protection on the market and is unavailable across the country except in Hainan province.

The protest organiser, CKL Consulting Limited, claimed it represented some 500 women, mostly mainlanders, who had paid for human papilloma virus vaccination packages in the city’s private clinics but failed to receive all the jabs in time.

However, the Post’s investigation found CKL to be a company held by a mainland agent who makes money referring customers to a Hong Kong medical group. The group is now a major target of complaint for failing to honour its agreement to offer the whole treatment to existing customers while taking orders from new ones.

The price for a vaccination package in Hong Kong has been rising since last year. Photo: SCMP

Medical sector lawmaker Pierre Chan, who received hundreds of complaints about HPV vaccines, said the real issue was not about a shortage.

“It is an improper trade practice,” Chan said. “[Those companies] received [customers’] money and made a service pledge, but failed to provide those goods or services.”