India's first indigenously developed quadrivalent Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine for the prevention of cervical cancer will be launched here on Thursday.  The launch holds importance for India, given that cervical cancer accounts for 9.4 per cent of all cancers and in 2020, it accounted around 18.3 per cent ie 123,907 of new cases. It still is amongst the commoner cancers in India and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women in low- and middle-income countries.

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had last month granted market authorization to the Serum Institute of India (SII) to manufacture the indigenously-developed vaccine against cervical cancer.  Union Minister of Science and Technology Jitendra Singh will launch the vaccine at IIC Delhi. SII CEO Adar Poonawalla will be present at the event, the officials said.

According to the officials, 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.

The DCGI's approval had come following a recommendation by the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on COVID-19 of the CDSCO on June 15 after Prakash Kumar Singh, director (government and regulatory affairs) at Serum Institute, had applied to the DCGI seeking market authorization of qHPV after the phase second and third clinical trial was completed with the support of the Department of Biotechnology.

"Cervical cancer is one of the top three commonest cancers in women in India and is one of the few cancers where a virus is actually the cause. This virus called Human Papilloma Virus induces mutations in the lining of the cervix which ultimately gives rise to cancer. The virus is highly contagious and is propagated by sexual transmission in men and women," said Dr. Prashant Mehta, senior consultant, and Assistant Professor, Department of Medical Oncology, Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Faridabad.

Regarding the new launch, Dr. Mehta said that the indigenous quadrivalent HPV vaccine Cervavac, by the SII protects against 4 of the most common high-risk types of HPV ie 6,11,16,18. The vaccine should be taken ideally at a young age anytime after 9 years and preferably before 26 years of age. "After 26 years of age, it can still benefit you but you should discuss this with your doctor.

"This vaccine is an affordable alternative to the foreign-grown Cervarix and Gardasil and can reduce the incidence of cervical cancer by more than 80 per cent," he added.