GSK Announces Trial To Compare Effectiveness Of Gardasil And Cervarix

GlaxoSmithKline has revealed that it will be conducting a clinical trial to determine whether its human papilloma virus vaccine Cervarix is more effective than rival Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil, according to Philadelphia Inquirer.

GSK said that it will be focusing on the effectiveness of both the drugs on HPV strains 16, 18, 31 and 45. Brian Lortie, GSK's vice president for Cervarix operations, said his company is confident that Cervarix will prove to be the more effective vaccine among the two.

"We're quite confident Cervarix has a stronger immune response and broader protection than Gardasil", he said. Reacting to the news of the trial, officials at Merck released a statement saying that the study is limited to only immune response which can never reveal the true efficacy data of a drug.

The trial can further dent Gardasil's reputation, which due to its high cost ($360 for three doses) has not been widely prescribed. Gardasil is the most expensive vaccine on CDC's list of recommended childhood vaccines which has seen many of the private insurance companies not making adequate reimbursement to cover physicians' costs to purchase, store and administer the vaccine.

Merck has already said that it will be offering the vaccine for free to low-income women aged between 19 to 26 years and are not insured. New Hampshire and South Dakota are also thinking of offering the vaccine at no cost to women who are under 18 years of age.

Independent clinical trials have proved that both Gardasil and Cervarix are 100 percent effective in preventing the infection of strains 16 and 18 of HPV, which cause around 70 percent of known cervical cancer cases. Gardasil was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last year with CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices saying that girls aged 11 and 12 should be given the vaccine.

A study published in the April 2006 online edition of the Lancet said that Cervarix successfully prevented the infection of HPV strains 31 and 45. Strains 16 and 18 along with 31 and 45 account for nearly 80 percent of cervical cancer cases. Meanwhile Merck has claimed that Gardasil is 99 percent effective in preventing strains 6 and 11, which when combined with strains 16 and 18 are responsible for 90 percent of genital wart cases.
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