Serum Institue of India (SII) on Tuesday announced that it has launched CERVAVAC which is India’s first indigenously developed quadrivalent human papillomavirus (qHPV) vaccine.
On Tuesday, the company’s CEO, Adar Poonawalla, took to Twitter to announce the launch with Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
“On the occasion of India’s National Girl Child Day and Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, @SerumInstIndia is pleased to launch the first made-in-India HPV vaccine by the hands of our Hon’ble Home Minister Shri @AmitShah Ji. @PrakashKsingh7,” Poonawalla tweeted on Tuesday.
In India, cervical cancer is the second-most frequent cancer among women aged 15 to 44 years. Studies have pointed out that most cervical cancers are caused by the human papillomavirus and are sexually transmitted.
In September 2022, SII announced the scientific completion of the cervical cancer vaccine.
According to the US National Institute of Health’s (NIH’s) National Cancer Institute, three vaccines, Gardasil, Gardasil 9, and Cervarix, that prevent infection with disease-causing HPV are currently being marketed in many countries throughout the world.