Cervarix™ provides longest duration of sustained neutralising antibodies reported for any vaccine against HPV 16 and 18 to date

Neutralising antibodies are believed by experts to be important for cervical cancer prevention 1,2,3

New data from an extended follow-up study show that Cervarix generates sustained high levels of neutralising antibodies against the two most common cervical cancer-causing virus types for up to 6.4 years.4 This is the longest duration of sustained neutralising antibody levels reported against both virus types HPV 16 and 18 with a cervical cancer vaccine to date.

Experts believe that neutralising antibodies – so-called because they have the ability to neutralise cancer-causing virus types and prevent them from infecting cells in the cervix – are essential for cervical cancer protection.1,2,3 The World Health Organisation has stated that neutralising antibodies are “considered to be the major basis” of vaccine-induced protection from infection.2,3

In addition, the study found that the level of total antibodies induced by Cervarix was sustained and 11 times higher than the total antibody levels induced after natural infection for up to 6.4 years.4 These new data confirm previous findings from Cervarix studies showing that, when total antibody levels are high, neutralising antibody levels are also elevated.5

“The high and sustained neutralising antibody levels seen with Cervarix against both HPV 16 and 18 in this trial are encouraging and may be important for long-lasting protection”, commented Professor Tino Schwarz, Head of the Central Laboratory at the Stiftung Juliusspital, Academic Teaching Hospital of the University of Wuerzburg, Germany.

This trial included more than 700 women aged 15-25 years. During the same period that Cervarix induced sustained high antibody levels for both HPV 16 and 18, the vaccine has been shown to provide 100 percent efficacy against those cancer-causing virus types.4

“We designed Cervarix with our proprietary Adjuvant System, AS04, to deliver high and sustained levels of neutralising antibodies’ said Philippe Monteyne, Senior Vice President, GSK Biologicals. “With nearly six and a half years of data, Cervarix has the longest duration of protection against HPV 16 and 18 reported to date than for any cervical cancer vaccine. The high and sustained neutralising antibody levels we observe over this same period give us great confidence that the vaccine will continue to protect over the longer term. This is why we are extending the study follow-up in a sub-set of women for up to nine and a half years, the longest follow-up period reported for any cervical cancer vaccine”.

These data were presented today at the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID) annual meeting in Graz, Austria.