Study: Vaccine Cervarix may generate higher response than Gardasil

MALMO, Sweden Data from a comparative trial of two vaccines for human papillomavirus indicate that GlaxoSmithKline’s Cervarix may generate a higher immune response than Merck & Co.’s Gardasil.

The study, presented at the International Papillomavirus Conference in Malmo, Sweden, examined two measures of immune response, neutralizing antibodies and memory B cells, which are believed to be important in protecting women from HPV infection. The study found that among women aged 18 to 45, neutralizing antibody levels for Cervarix were more than twice as high as those for Gardasil for HPV type 16 and more than six times higher for HPV type 18. Cervarix also produced almost three times more memory B cells for types 16 and 18.

“The presence of neutralizing antibodies at the location of the infection appears to be an important part of vaccine-induced protection against HPV,” GSK Biologicals chief medical officer and head of global clinical research and development Thomas Breuer said in a statement. “This study offers the first evidence that these two vaccines do not generate the same immune response against HPV types 16 and 18, the two most common cancer-causing virus types.”