CERVAVAC HPV Vaccine: The highly-anticipated CERVAVAC vaccine from the Serum Institute of India will be available for purchase starting this February, according to official sources. The vaccine, which will be sold at a MRP of Rs 2,000 per vial of two doses, is India’s first indigenous human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. It was launched on January 24th in a ceremony attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla, among others.
SII price much lower than competitor
In a letter to the Union Health Ministry, SII’s Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs Prakash Kumar Singh stated that the CERVAVAC vaccine will be sold at a much lower price than other HPV vaccines currently on the market. With numerous hospitals, doctors, and associations expressing interest in the vaccine, the Serum Institute is ready to introduce CERVAVAC to the private market this month.
Currently, India is fully reliant on foreign producers for HPV vaccines. The only HPV vaccine currently available in the private market is manufactured by Merck’s Gardasil and costs Rs 10,850. In April, a global tender for the HPV vaccine will be published, with the Union Health Ministry planning to introduce it as part of the national immunization campaign for girls aged 9 to 14 years in June.
India and Cervical Cancer risk
India, which is home to 16% of the world’s women, experiences a quarter of all cervical cancer incidences and close to a third of all cervical cancer fatalities worldwide. According to statistics, there is a 1.6% lifetime cumulative risk of Indian women developing cervical cancer and a 1% cumulative death risk from the disease. It is estimated that every year, around 80,000 women develop cervical cancer and 35,000 die from it in India.
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