Vaccine boost for cervical cancer

Published on Saturday 29 July 2006 00:58

A VACCINE which could prevent women from getting cervical cancer may be available within months, its manufacturer said yesterday.

Gardasil, which works against the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus linked to cervical and other cancers, has passed a major licensing hurdle.

The vaccine, has now received a positive opinion from the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use.

The landmark could see the European Commission grant full permission to market Gardasil within just two months.

If granted a licence, Gardasil, developed by Merck & Co Inc and Sanofi Pasteur, could be the first vaccine of its type to be available in Europe. It has recently been approved in the US, Mexico, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

The jab, which makers hope could soon be available in schools, is designed for use by children as young as nine as well as young women.

It acts against four separate types of the human papilloma virus which can cause cervical cancer as well as cervical and genital lesions, genital warts and other potentially cancer-causing lesions.

Cervical cancer kills about 1,000 and affects 3,000 women in Britain every year.

Mike Watson, executive director clinical and epidemiology Europe at Sanofi Pasteur, said: "We are today on the brink of a world and life-changing breakthrough in the fight against cancer through vaccination."