Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s Cervarix vaccine to protect girls from a virus linked to cervical cancer was recommended by a U.S. advisory panel to compete against Merck & Co.’s Gardasil.

The advisory committee for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, whose votes are routinely adopted by the U.S. government program that provides free shots to 60 percent of children, recommended both vaccines.

The immunization advice will tell doctors that both vaccines protect against cervical cancer, while Gardasil also protects against genital warts. Language that said the panel had no preference for either vaccine was stricken from the proposal after some members said wart protection makes Gardasil a better vaccine.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Randall in New York at trandall6@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: October 21, 2009 10:47 EDT