The announcement of the use of the vaccine, named CERVAVAC, was made by the head of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI), Narendra Arora.
“The vaccine has received DCGI approval and is approved by NTAGI for use in public health programs,” Arora said as quoted by NDTV.
Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs Prakash Kumar Singh said on the sidelines of the South Asia meeting on HPV that India’s locally made vaccine would be launched in April 2023.
“CERVAVAC will likely be launched by the Serum Institute of India (SII) in April next year and will be available at a much lower price than international vaccines available in the market,” Kumar Singh said.
India is currently very dependent on foreign manufacturers for the vaccine. Three foreign companies are listed as producing HPV vaccines, while two companies sell their vaccines in India.
Each injectable dose currently available in the market costs more than 4,000 rupees (regarding 755,000 rupees). The Serum Institute vaccine will likely be available at a much lower price.
In September 2022, SII CEO Adar Poonawalla stated that the HPV vaccine would be available in India at an affordable price of between 200-400 rupees (37-75,000 rupees) per dose.
India is home to regarding 16% of the world’s women and accounts for regarding a quarter of all cervical cancer cases and experiences nearly a third of cervical cancer deaths globally.
