Study shows effectiveness of HPV vaccine candidate

TAMPA, Fla. A new study of 776 women has shown that GlaxoSmithKline’s cervical cancer vaccine candidate, Cervarix, provides significant protection for women for almost seven years against the four most common cancers causing human papillomavirus types. The types of the virus included in the study were types 16, 18, 31 and 45, which account for about 80 percent of cervical cancers globally.

Virus types 18 and 45 are responsible for a significant percentage of a particularly aggressive and deadly form of cervical cancer, known as adenocarcinoma. This type of cervical cancer tends to occur in younger women and is not well detected by routine screening methods.

For virus types 16 and 18, nearly 100 percent of the women, who were aged 15 to 25, maintained high level of both antibodies for six and a half years. For virus type 45, the vaccine showed 78 percent effectiveness over the course of the study. Virus type 31 was the weakest of the four viruses, showing a 60 percent efficacy in preventing infection.

"We specifically designed our cervical cancer vaccine with the goal of providing long-lasting protection from cervical cancer," said James Tursi, director of medical affairs in North America for GlaxoSmithKline. "These study results are important because women remain at risk for infection with cancer-causing virus types throughout their lives, and long-term protection will be an essential component of a successful vaccination strategy."