The big drugmaker has just filed an application with the FDA to win approval for its own HPV vaccine, called Cervarix, which will target the same two strains most likely to lead to cervical cancer.

As part of its prep work, Glaxo tested the vaccine on nearly 30,000 girls and women, ranging in age from 10 to 55 years old. An effectiveness trial involved 18,000 girls and women between 15 and 25 years old.

It’s not news that Glaxo would soon look to market its own vaccine which, by the way, some Wall Streeters believe will have a slight edge over Gardasil. But given the Gardasil controversy, another vaccine will draw more scrutiny than would otherwise greet such a product.

A key question, even at this early stage, is to what extent Glaxo has absorbed the lessons Merck learned the hard way by aggressively pushing politicians to mandate its vaccine. Will Glaxo be tempted to race down the same self-destructive path? Or will the Glaxo team exercise something resembling sound judgement and let the product speak for itself?

Glaxo press release.

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