Glaxo HPV Vaccine Shows Promise

GlaxoSmithKline(GSK Quote) said Monday its experimental vaccine against a virus that causes cervical cancer appears to be effective among middle-age women as well as teenagers and young women.

The British drug giant said a late-stage clinical trial of its Cervarix vaccine reveals that all women ages 15 to 55 showed a positive response against two types of human papillomavirus, or HPV. These two types -- HPV 16 and HPV 18 -- are the most common causes of cervical cancer among the many versions of the virus.

"These results are encouraging as they open the possibility that all women, regardless of age, would benefit from vaccination against [tumor-causing] HPV infection to protect them against cervical cancer," said Dr. Philippe Monteyne, head of global vaccine development at GlaxoSmithKline.

"For the first time, we see that a vaccine against cervical cancer is highly immunogenic in women over 25 years of age," said Dr. Tino F. Schwarz, the lead investigator, as he commented on Cervarix's ability to produce an immune response. "These are important data as older women remain at significant risk of acquiring infections with cancer-causing HPV types."

GlaxoSmithKline announced the results at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Atlanta, just a few days before the Food and Drug Administration is scheduled to rule on Gardasil, a competing HPV vaccine from Merck(MRK Quote).

An FDA advisory committee of medical experts voted unanimously last month to support Gardasil as a vaccine that could be administered to girls as young as nine and women as old as 26. Merck is proposing that the FDA approve Gardasil to prevent the two leading types of cervical cancer-causing HPV. In addition, Merck is seeking approval for Gardasil as a prevention for two types of HPV that cause most genital warts.