China Gears Up For Gardasil Vaccine Clinical Trials

China's four hospitals will soon begin clinical trials with Merck's human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil for cervical cancer. A Zhejiang hospital said trials would kick off in early March and would need about 30 months for completion. Two Beijing hospitals and one from Guangzhou are also preparing for the trials. If everything goes well and results show that participating women do not suffer from HPV infection within five years, the vaccine is expected to be promoted across the country after the test period. Currently, Chinese patients account for one-fourth of the world's 460,000 new cases of cervical cancer each year. (Click here for more - Chinese language)