According to the findings of a new study, Merck & Co.'s Gardasil (vaccine against cervical cancer) may not be very cost effective for women through their mid-20s.

Despite the U.S. authorities’ recommendations that the women in their mid-20s should get the vaccine to prevent infection with Human Papillomavirus (HPV), the conclusions of the study that were published in The New England Journal of Medicine comes as anther blow for Merck’s already difficult economic situation. The company was having a hard time convincing women in the above-mentioned age group to get Gardasil as it is. The vaccine was released on the market in 2006 and the women have been able to get the three-dose treatment for about $360.

HPV is a sexual-transmitted virus which causes warts or cancer. Of the 130 HPV types, some do not have any symptoms at all. About 40 types affect the anogenital region and can cause genital warts. The high-risk types of HPV can lead to invasive cancer and are among to causes of nearly all cases of cervical cancer. Women become exposed to HPV risk when they become sexually active.

Nearly 50% of the population is infected with the high-risk HPV. The FDA gave its approval for Gardasil use in girls and women from 9 to 26, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises 11 and 12-year-old girls to get a routine vaccine and the females between 13 and 26 to get a temporary "catch-up" vaccination. It’s worth mentioning that Gardasil doesn’t treat existing infections with HPV, it just a preventive vaccine.

Back to the research carried out by the Harvard School of Public Health, the study concludes that the vaccine becomes less cost-effective as the female patients who use it are older.

"Vaccinating someone at 12 versus 26 makes a big difference in terms of giving those women an opportunity to have more years of life saved," said Matthew Anderson, gynecologic oncologist at Baylor College of Medicine, KTRH News Radio reported.

Anderson added that, if the vaccine is administered to females before they become sexually active, the measure proves very cost-effective in terms of preventing the cancer.