Merck Sharpe and Dohme’s Gardasil chosen for NHS HPV vaccinations

Merck Sharpe and Dohme's human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil is to be used in the UK's national vaccination programme from next year.

The Department of Health has chosen the drug for use in the school vaccination scheme following a competitive tendering exercise and will be introducing it from the start of the next academic year in September 2012.

To date, 1.5 million girls and young women have been offered protection from HPV since the introduction of the treatment programme in September 2008, with vaccines offered routinely to those aged 12 and 13 years of age.

Professor David Salisbury, the government's director of immunisation, noted that it is not unusual for the NHS to change vaccine supplier following new tendering processes or the emergence of compelling clinical data.

This decision comes after the British Medical Association recommended the use of Gardasil earlier this year, due to its health benefits and cost effectiveness.

"We have one of the best HPV vaccination programmes in the world and we want that success to continue," Professor Salisbury added.