MANILA - Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline launched its Cervarix anti-cervical cancer vaccine in the Philippines on Saturday, making it the second company to launch a drug in Southeast Asia combatting the virus that causes the disease.
The Philippines' Bureau of Food and Drugs approved the drug for sale earlier this month after approving a similar vaccine - Gardasil - produced by U.S.-based drug company Merck & Co. last year.
Cervarix combats types 16 and 18 of the human papillomavirus that together are responsible for over 70 percent of cervical cancer cases worldwide. The virus targets females aged 10 years and higher, GlaxoSmithKline officials said.
''All women are at risk of developing cervical cancer,'' said Professor Cecilla Llave, head of the University of the Philippines' Cancer Institute. Llave is not connected with either GlaxoSmithKline or Merck.
Each year, 6,000 women develop cervical cancer in the Philippines and about 4,300 of them die from the disease. In Asia Pacific, cervical cancer is the second most common female cancer, afflicting 266,000 women each year, killing 140,000, she added.
HPV is transmitted from skin-to-skin contact in the genital area, and the risk of infection starts right from one's first sexual encounter, experts say.
GSK vice president Hugues Bogaert said clinical trials show the vaccine, which is given in three doses within 6 months, offers protection for at least 5 1/2 years, possibly even longer.
Company officials refused to give Cervarix's price in the Philippines, saying the vaccine will start selling in the country next month or October, and the price has yet to be set.
Merck's Gardasil sells in the Philippines at 15,000 pesos (US$320; euro235) for three doses.
Bogaert said Cervarix's price will differ in each country, depending on economic conditions.
Company officials also said they are linking up with private groups and charities to make the vaccine more accessible to poor women in Asia, where many governments have limited funds to cope with a host of health problems. - AP