GlaxoSmithKline has trumped Sanofi Pasteur MSD, its France-based rival, in the bid to provide cervical cancer vaccine to girls across the UK.

GSK’s Cervarix was chosen by the Department of Health for more than 2m courses of HPV vaccine over three years, in spite of previous indications it would award the tender to Sanofi Pasteur MSD’s alternative Gardasil.