The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday was expected to announce its decision on whether to allow GlaxoSmithKline's vaccine Cervarix to be marketed in the United States. A GSK spokesperson, however, said FDA decided instead to delay its decision and continue its review.

Although the delay came one day after a 14-year-old British girl died hours after receiving Cervarix at school, GSK's Sarah Alspach said, "The FDA has not indicated the extended review is related to any safety concern." Britain's National Health Service has given out more than 1.4 million doses of Cervarix since last year, when the vaccination program was launched.

Cervarix targets two strains of the STD human papillomavirus (HPV) that cause most cases of cervical cancer. It is already approved for use in almost 100 countries. Earlier this month, an expert FDA panel ruled that Cervarix appears safe and effective for females ages 10 to 25. The agency generally follows the advice of such panels but is not required to do so. If FDA approves Cervarix, it will compete directly with Merck & Co.'s HPV vaccine Gardasil, which FDA approved in 2006.

An FDA spokesperson said the agency does not comment on pending prod