GlaxoSmithKline, the UK pharmaceutical group, on Monday received European go-ahead for an infant vaccine against rotavirus, in the accelerating battle for control of a global market estimated to be worth more than £1bn ($1.7bn) by the end of the decade.

The European Medicines Agency approved GSK’s Rotarix, clearing the way for negotiations with individual European countries about whether they will reimburse for the vaccine and add it to routine vaccination programmes.