Cervical cancer: India to launch 1st indigenous vaccine soon

New Delhi: The first indigenous vaccine developed by India to prevent cervical cancer will be launched in a few months. The quadrivalent Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine will be available at the affordable price range of ₹ 200-400, too, reports PTI.

At the event that announced the launch of the vaccine on Thursday, Union Minister of Science and Technology Jitendra Singh said that the Covid-19 pandemic has raised awareness about preventive healthcare, which paved the way for the development of vaccines like HPV.

"The schemes like Ayushman Bharat have made us think about preventive healthcare, and we can now afford it. The Department of Biotechnology has taken a lead in the matter and is in collaborative mode," he said.

"Scientific efforts at times do not get the scale of recognition they deserve. So this event is to celebrate that scientific completion," he said.

CEO of the Serum Institute of India (SII) Adar Poonawalla, who was present at the event, told reporters, "The cervical cancer vaccine will be affordable and would be available in the range of ₹ 200-400. However, the final price is yet to be decided".

According to him, the vaccine will be launched at the end of the year. The first step will be making the vaccine available through government channels, and in the next year, private payers will also be allowed. The plan is to make 200 million doses at first, distribute it in India, and only after that exporting to foreign countries, Poonawalla said.

Meanwhile, Department of Biotechnology Secretary Rajesh Gokhale said that more than 2000 volunteers participated across the country for the vaccine. "Partnerships between private-public are becoming very important in such research, this co-creation is what is going to make all the difference in the world," he said.

Dr N Kalaiselvi, Director General, CSIR, praised the Centre, saying, "This government has taken the most amount of care to come up with this type of innovation, making us 'atmanirbhar'."

Officials testified that the qHPV vaccine CERVAVAC has demonstrated a robust antibody response that is nearly 1,000 times higher than the baseline against all targeted HPV types and in all dose and age groups.

In India, cervical cancer stands second among the most frequent cancer among women aged between 15 and 44 years.