MERCK PLANS TO BRING GARDASIL TO INDIA

Merck said in an announcement this week about Gardasil -- the company's human papillomavirus vaccine -- that it plans to make the vaccine available in India.

Gardasil has been approved in the U.S. and Europe to protect against the strains of human papillomavirus that cause cervical cancer in women. Merck said that clinical trials are under way in 33 countries. In 2005 Merck and the Indian Council of Medical Research formed a collaboration to study Gardasil in India.

In June 2006, Merck and the nonprofit organization PATH announced the launch of an effort to bring the vaccine to nations where cervical cancer rates are highest, including India.

When the Indian studies are complete, Merck said that PATH will identify ways to provide Gardasil in India at an affordable cost.

In a report released last month by the World Health Organization, which called the vaccine "controversial," the agency said that in India there is only a 42 percent chance of beating cervical cancer.