Panel fails to push HPV vaccine for males

U.S. vaccine advisers last week declined to press for the use of Gardasil in boys and men, opting instead to simply advise doctors they are free to use the drug.

Despite some impassioned pleas from patients and doctors, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted almost unanimously for "permissive" use of the Merck vaccine for boys. It protects against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, which causes a variety of cancers and genital warts.

But the committee did recommend including Gardasil for boys ages 9 to 18 in the Vaccines for Children program, which serves uninsured children and those eligible for Medicaid.

Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration approved Gardasil for preventing genital warts in boys and men ages 9 through 26.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention already recommends Gardasil for girls and women ages 11 to 26.

The vaccine was approved mainly to prevent cervical cancer, which kills 4,000 women a year in the United States. Various strains of HPV also cause disfiguring genital warts, anal and penile cancers, and head and neck cancers. However, the advisory committee decided to consider only the vaccine's ability to prevent genital warts. In that context, the cost -- about $500 per person for the three-shot regimen -- did not seem to justify using the vaccine.

"They are sending a -- very unfortunately, in my opinion -- weak message to physicians," said William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University, a member of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

But Diane Solomon of the National Cancer Institute said the committee had an obligation for "responsible stewardship" of taxpayer money. "I think it is important to communicate to industry that we are not going to blithely indicate excessive costs," Solomon said.

The committee also voted to recommend the use of Cervarix, GlaxoSmithKline's rival vaccine, for routine administration among girls 11 and 12 years old.

-- Reuters