GlaxoSmithKline launch herpes vaccine

GlaxoSmithKline PLC's experimental genital herpes vaccine will begin new clinical trials on female subjects, GSK and the National Institutes of Health said.

The prototype for the vaccine, to treat the herpes simplex virus types HSV-1 and HSV-2, will be tested in a phase III trial on 7,550 women who are not carriers of the virus, but whose partners are infected.

The trials will be a joint public-private effort conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Belgium-based GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals.

While previous trials for the vaccine showed 70% efficacy in preventing the disease in women, for reasons not yet known it had no clear effect preventing it in men, the NIH said.

"More than one million new cases of genital herpes are diagnosed in the United States each year," institute director Anthony Fauci said in a statement. "The physical and psychological toll taken by this sexually transmitted disease is considerable.