Indigenous Vaccine against Cervical Cancer: Serum Institute of India (SII) and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) will launch India’s 1st Indigenously developed Vaccine against Cervical Cancer on 1st Sept 2022. The vaccine will be launched by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology Jitendra Singh. The vaccine is formally named Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus vaccine (qHPV) has been developed indigenously by SII and was granted clearance by the Drugs Controller General of India in July.
Serum Institute of India (SII) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT) to launch the indigenously developed India's first Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus Vaccine (qHPV) against Cervical Cancer on Sept 1: Official Sources
— ANI (@ANI) August 31, 2022
The launch of a home-grown vaccine for Cervical Cancer comes at a pivotal junction in India’s fight against the disease. As per the data shared by World Health Organization (WHO), India accounts for more than a fifth of Cervical Cancer patients in the world. The country witnesses about 1.23 lakh cases of Cervical Cancer annually, of which nearly 67,000lead to patient death. The vaccines for Cervical Cancer have been in short supply for some time now and the made-in-India vaccine will help India to meet its demand.
Cervical Cancer Vaccine Based on VLP - Virus-Like Particles
As per the details shared by the Department of Biotechnology(DBT), the new Cervical Cancer vaccine developed completely in India is based on tried and tested VLP (Virus-Like Particles) framework. Similar to how the vaccine for hepatitis B works, the vaccine protects by generating antibodies against the HPV virus’s L1 protein. During the trials conducted by SSI, the vaccine was found to provide protection against 6,11,16 and 18 strains by generating antibodies against HPV.
Vaccine Efficacy above 85-90%
During the trials conducted by SSI and DBT as part of the vaccine development process, the Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus vaccine (qHPV) exhibited high efficacy among the patients. The vaccine was found to prevent Cervical Cancer in85-90% of cases. Talking about the vaccine efficacy, Dr N K Arora, Chairperson of the COVID working group, National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) said that “if we give it to our young children and daughters, they are protected from the infection and consequently probably 30 years later, cancer does not occur.” He also hoped that the vaccine will eventually be made part of the Government’s National Immunisation programme for 9-14-year-old girls.
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