Serum HPV vaccine Cervavac hits mkt; 2-3 mn doses this yr

The company will be producing 2-3 million doses this year, a person in the know said, seeking anonymity. While the government’s procurement is underway, it may take some time, a person familiar with the matter said.

“It has already delivered the vaccine to corporate hospitals, private clinics and medical practitioners in Delhi, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Telangana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha.”

Currently, two other vaccines licensed globally are available in India: a quadrivalent vaccine, Gardasil, marketed by Merck, and a bivalent vaccine, Cervarix, marketed by Glaxo Smith Kline.

HPV is a sexually transmitted viral infection and can affect the mouth, throat or genitals, and can cause anal, penile or oral cancer in men. In women, it leads to cervical cancer that affect the lower-most part of the uterus.

Every year, at least 125,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and 75,000 die from the disease in India.

“The government approved the vaccine for both men and women. The firm has kept the price at half of what international vaccines are available for in India,” he added.

“Gardasil’s vaccine has two variants. One is quadrivalent vaccine, known as quarda-4 and a nonavalent 9, which is the latest vaccine. Gardasil-4 per dose costs around ₹3,957, while per dose cost of Gardasil-9 is around ₹11,000,” he said.

“However, Gardsil-4 and Serum’s Cervavax are comparable and competent to each other because they are developed using the same technology. Cervavac’s two dose vial is available for ₹4,000, of which one dose costs ₹2,000.”

The person said under government procurement the cost of the vaccine will be much less. Queries sent to a Serum Institute spokesperson did not elicit any response till press time. Cervavac was jointly developed by Serum Institute of India and Department of Biotechnology, which operates under the ministry of science and technology.

Updated: 02 Jul 2023, 10:14 PM IST