Japan Clears Merck's Gardasil To Ease HPV Vaccine Shortage; AstraZeneca, Astellas Also Gain Approvals

July kicks off a good start for the Japanese subsidiary of Merck & Co. Inc., known as Merck, Sharp & Dohme, with three new drug approvals from Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Among them, cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil will largely benefit from a recently expanded Japanese government public coverage program for human papillomavirus vaccines