PHILADELPHIA, PA —This week, top drug maker GlaxoSmithKline announced that its HPV-prevention vaccine Cervarix has been approved for use by the European Commission in 27 countries.GlaxoSmithKline has also submitted Cervarix to the U.S. FDA for approval in the states.

Cervarix, just like Merck’s Gardasil, is designed to prevent women from getting the human papilloma virus (HPV). Gardasil was approved by the FDA and is currently being used. The timeframe for Cervarix to be approved by the FDA is unknown but GlaxoSmithKline expects the drug to be used in the United States next year.

GlaxoSmithKline’s chief executive officer Jean-Pierre Garnier said publicly that approval “represents a great step forward for European women. Physicians across Europe will now have access to this important vaccine to help protect women against cervical cancer, the second most common cancer in women,” Garnier added.

GlaxoSmithKline believes that Cervarix is more powerful and longer-lasting than Gardasil. In trials, Cervarix provided 100-percent protection against pre-cancerous lesions, which are linked to HPV viruses 16 and 18, which are responsible for 70-percent of cervical cancer cases worldwide, GlaxoSmithKline said. It also provided protection for up to five and a half years after vaccination.

HPV is primarily transmitted sexually and the American Cancer Society estimates that more than 11,000 American women will contract HPV this year with another 4,000 dying from the disease. According to the World Health organization, 250,000 women a year die from HPV worldwide.