FRENCH GOVERNMENT RECOMMENDS GARDASIL FOR 14-YEAR-OLDS

France's High Council of Public Health, a decisionmaking body of experts that is part of the Ministry of Health, has recommended that 14-year-old girls be vaccinated with the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil, Sanofi Pasteur MSD has announced. The council also proposed offering the vaccine to young women ages 15 to 23.

Gardasil, the first vaccine approved to prevent the strains of HPV that often lead to cervical cancer in women, has been available in French pharmacies since November 2006.

The European Commission approved Gardasil in September 2006. The vaccine initially received approval from the U.S. FDA in June 2006. It has also been approved in Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand.

Gardasil is currently the only vaccine approved to prevent cervical cancer and cervical, vulvar and vaginal precancers caused by HPV types 16 and 18. It is also approved to prevent genital warts and low-grade cervical lesions caused by HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18.

Sanofi Pasteur MSD, which markets Gardasil in France, is a joint venture between sanofi pasteur, the vaccine division of sanofi-aventis, and Merck.