Doctors are trying it out and this may open a whole new market for drugmakers. The FDA approved Merck’s Gardasil last year for girls and women from 9 to 26, after determining it’s effective against strains of HPV that cause cervical and anal cancer, as well as genital and anal warts. Glaxo is developing its own vaccine.

“The cervix is similar biologically to the anus, so there’s plenty of hope that it will work there also,” said Dr. Joel Palefsky, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, told The New York Times.

Dr. Eliav Barr, a director of clinical research at Merck, told the paper that he’d heard some men were being vaccinated. But he added that Merck - which is testing Gardasil in 4,000 men, including 500 gay men - is barred from promoting it for men, unless the FDA approves that use.

Heard? As if Merck isn’t paying close attention to how doctors are using its vaccine? That’s a stretch. The company is aggressively lobbying states to mandate Gardasil for children. This is one important product and you can be sure the marketing machine is studying usage closely.

[tags]Gardasil, GlaxoSmithKline, HPV, Merck[/tags]