Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions). Your first question comes from the line Joel Sendek with Lazard Capital Markets. Please proceed.
Joel Sendek - Lazard Capital Markets
Hello, hi, thanks. On Synagis, I'm wondering if you could just give us more detail or potentially quantify some of your early indicators of progress. For example, if you can give us some feel for what the increase in patient tracking is so far? Thanks.
Peter Greenleaf
So, as I mentioned earlier, we've made, this is Peter Greenleaf, significant progress on the patient tracking front and to quantify that a little bit more, if you look at our patient tracking and physician offices, we're tracking currently above last season and the previous season rates. On top of that, we're also starting to see significant pickup in those patients actually being referred into our specialty distributor network and of those patients being referred into our specialty distributor network, significant progress year-on-year in those patients being activated as well.
Joel Sendek - Lazard Capital Markets
Can you give us any numbers?
Peter Greenleaf
No, not at this stage. It's really early and we only get a sampling of those numbers from our specialty distributor network, so while it's directionally accurate; it wouldn't be specific enough to quantify the entire market at this stage.
Joel Sendek - Lazard Capital Markets
Thank you.
Operator
Your next question comes from the line of Steven Harr with Morgan Stanley. Please proceed.
Steven Harr - Morgan Stanley
Can you guys offer a little quantification of the $7 million from Merck for HPV? How much of that was milestone and how much of that is royalty?
Lota Zoth
Yes. About $5 million of that was from the two milestones, one was for EU approval and the other was a sales related milestone and the remainder was royalty.
Steven Harr - Morgan Stanley
So we should use a 2 million on 70 as our, I'm sorry, as our number going forward?
Lota Zoth
Actually, probably not because as long as we have sales related milestones which is they are building up the market we are going to continue to have sales related milestones, there are some credits associated with that.
Steven Harr - Morgan Stanley
Okay.
David Mott
Particularly the regulatory and approval milestones have some credibility against future royalty payments so it makes it very difficult to figure out what the actual running royalty rate is until we burn through those credits on milestones. That make sense, Steve?
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