(Yicai) Jan. 8 -- Merck Sharp & Dohme’s quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine has become the first jab against HPV, which is a virus that cause genital lesions and can lead to a number of cancers such as cervical and anal cancer, that has been approved for use on men in China, the US pharmaceutical giant said today.

The China National Medical Products Administration has approved several new indications for Gardasil, including its use in males aged nine to 26 years for the prevention of anal cancer, genital warts and anal intraepithelial neoplasia caused by HPV, said New Jersey-based Merck, which does business outside of the US as Merck Sharp & Dohme.

HPV vaccines are mainly used to prevent cervical cancer in women in China and Merck’s Gardasil 4vHPV and 9vHPV vaccines are already available in the country for use on women.

Merck’s HPV jabs have protected the health of 51 million women in China since they were approved to go to market, said Anna Van Acker, senior vice-president of Merck Sharp & Dohme and president of the company’s China arm. The approval of the new indications will offer protection to more men.

Merck will work with the Chinese government to significantly improve the accessibility and affordability of HPV vaccines, contributing to the advancement of the Healthy China 2030 plan, Acker added.

There are five HPV vaccines currently available in China. Apart from Merck's 4vHPV and 9vHPV injections, there are also 2vHPV jabs from the UK’s GlaxoSmithKline as well as Chinese firms Wantai Biological Pharmacy and Walvax Biotechnology.

As competition in the HPV vaccine market intensifies, manufacturers are developing vaccines with higher valency or are expanding their indications. For instance, Wantai Biological's 9vHPV vaccine is currently under review and was approved in November last year to conduct clinical trials for male indications.

Editor: Kim Taylor