HomeHealthcare NewsIndia's first indigenous cervical cancer vaccine to be available soon, to be priced Rs 200-400

India's first indigenous cervical cancer vaccine to be available soon, to be priced Rs 200-400

Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer among women aged 14-44 in India, with India sharing about 20 percent of the global cases of cervical cancer. Each year the country sees 1.23 lakh cases and around 67,000 deaths.

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By CNBCTV18.com September 1, 2022, 2:33:54 PM IST (Updated)

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India's first indigenous cervical cancer vaccine to be available soon, to be priced Rs 200-400
India's first indigenously developed quadrivalent Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine against cervical cancer will be launched in a few months. The vaccine will be made available to people in the price range of Rs 200-400. Union Minister of Science and Technology Jitendra Singh on Thursday attended an event held to announce the scientific completion of the vaccine.


The vaccine is being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) in partnership with the Department of Biotechnology (DBT). "The vaccine for cervical cancer will be available in a few months. We will give it to our country first and later to the world. It may be priced between Rs 200 and Rs 400 but the price is yet to be finalised. We are preparing to make 200 million doses in two years," says SII CEO Adar Poonawalla.

The Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) had granted market authorisation to SII for the manufacturing of the indigenous qHPV vaccine after the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation gave its recommendation for the CERVAVAC vaccine to be authorised following its successful Phase III clinical trials.

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Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer among women aged 14-44 in India, with India sharing about 20 percent of the global cases of cervical cancer. Each year the country sees 1.23 lakh cases and around 67,000 deaths. While cervical cancer vaccines are available, the vaccines are not only expensive but the lack of regular check-ups and awareness means that millions of women are not able to receive the vaccine in time. For example, the GARDASIL 9 vaccine which prevents infections from several strains of HPV that causes cervical cancer needs to be taken by women before they turn 26.

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HPV is a sexually transmitted disease that is the main cause of cervical cancer. Apart from using barrier protection during sexual intercourse, a qHPV vaccine remains the best course for women to be protected from cervical cancer. CERVAVAC has demonstrated antibody response nearly 1,000 times higher than the baseline against all HPV strains and across all age groups, healthcare officials told PTI.
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