GlaxoSmithKline's Cervarix cervical cancer drug is closer to approval in Europe after an influential medical panel there Wednesday afternoon suggested the drug be approved.

GSK expects EU approval in the coming months, with a European Cervarix launch possibly in 2007 sometime. Cervarix assists in the prevention of pre-cancerous lesions in the cervix caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), which has been a center of contention as certain states in the U.S. have suggested mandatory vaccinations for teenage girls against the HPV.

Cervical cancer is the second-most common form of cancer in women after breast cancer worldwide. So far, Cervarix has not received approval by the FDA in the U.S.

Cervarix, an experimental cervical cancer vaccine made by British pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline, had somewhat of an important public milestone this week, as The Lancet published information on the vaccine being 90 percent effective in preventing precancerous cervical lesions.

These results do indeed confirm previous data on the effectiveness of Cervarix, and as such, the stage is set for the vaccine to become a big hit with cervical cancer sufferers and women who have just been diagnosed.

Australia has already approved Cervarix, and expected approval for Europe is slated to happen this year in the second half. For a U.S. release, we'll have to wait until sometime in 2008. That is, if is is approved here.

Five new cancer treatments are in the works and could be available for use as early as 2010, thanks to GlaxoSmithKline, PLC, the world's second largest drug company.

The drugs will treat a range of different cancers -- one will be cervical cancer -- and are known as cervarix, pazopanib, promacta, rezonic, and ofatumumab.

"Over the next three years, GSK will make a difference to millions of patients facing cancer," said Glaxo's head of research and development, Moncef Slaoui.

Glaxo's most recent cancer drug is Tykerb, an oral breast cancer treatment launched in March.

The Food an Drug Administration is not going to grant a priority review to GlaxoSmithKline's experimental cancer vaccine Cervarix. Adding pressure is recent controversy surrounding its diabetes drug Avandia.

Cervarix will now have to go through a standard 10-month review, instead of going the fast-track route. GlaxoSmithKline is defending its diabetes drug after a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine said that those taking the drug are at greater risks of heart attacks.

GlaxoSmithKline expects to market the drug Cervarix in the United States sometime in 2008.

In a study just released by Dartmouth Medical School researchers, not all cervical cancer vaccines work the same or offer the same benefits. Comparing Cervarix to Gardasil, both cervical cancer vaccines designed to protect against the human papillomavirus, HPV, found Cervarix to be longer-lasting and provides protection against multiple strains of virus linked to the development of cancer. Gardasil does not offer these same benefits. Gardasil does offer protection against HPV strains associated with genital warts, which Cervarix does not offer.

Cervarix offers high level protection against HPV types 16 and 18 for up to 4.5 years, and cross-protects against HPV-45 and 31, two other strains of the virus associated with cancer. According to the researchers, the long-term response appears to be due to the use of the adjuvant ASO4 with Cervarix rather than the adjuvant alum that is used in the Gardasil vaccine. This is significant because a vaccine that uses adjuvant alum needs to be administered around the time of exposure, so timing is important to vaccine protection. However, a vaccine that uses adjuvant ASO4 can be administered at any time to offer protection. Gardasil uses adjuvant alum, Cervarix uses adjuvant ASO4. When these cervical cancer vaccines are approved for use, I wonder if women are going to faced with the decision of what type of protection they want and in what form. Or will they find a way to combine the benefits of both into one vaccine? Important information for women to keep in mind when the vaccine becomes available, because there are critical differences between the two vaccines mentioned in this post.