The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Efforts on to develop vaccine against cervical cancer

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 08, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Efforts on to develop vaccine against cervical cancer

By Y. Mallikarjun

HYDERABAD, FEB. 7. Shantha Biotechnics, the Hyderabad-based biotechnology company is developing a recombinant vaccine to prevent Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infections, which cause cervical cancer, a major killer disease in India.

The company is also planning to collaborate with a leading R&D laboratory in the country to expedite its production. The company's managing director, K. Vara Prasad Reddy, said that the development of a vaccine was necessary in view of the high incidence of cervical cancer in the country. "We are a serious player on that. It is necessary for the country and we have a social obligation," he added.

Talking to The Hindu, he said Shantha Biotechnics was not copying anybody but taking a "parallel initiative" to produce the vaccine "whatever be the cost and time." He would visit Delhi next week to take up with the Department of Science and Biotechnology the involvement of one of the ICMR or CSIR institutions in the development of the vaccine, as "partnerships are always good."

Conclusive proof

According to Revathi J.Chaganti, in-charge of the vaccine development project, certain types of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) have been conclusively proven to be the cause of cervical cancer, one of the most common cancers in developing countries. Five specific oncogenic HPV types cause at least 80% of cervical cancer cases.

She said that more than 600,000 cases of cervical cancer cases are registered worldwide annually, while more than 100,000 occur each year in the country. Based on the extensive experience acquired in the development of Hepatitis-B vaccine, the project to make a safe and efficacious recombinant HPV vaccine was initiated in August 2002.

Affordable

"Our efforts are aimed at the development of a HPV vaccine which can be manufactured and made available at a very affordable price so that it could reach those who need it the most," she added.

Species-specific animal papilloma virus prophylactic VLP (Virus like particles) vaccines in cotton tail rabbits, canines and cows have been successful in preventing the disease. She said that they had made HPV 16 and 18 L1 proteins in two microbial hosts and were in the process of working out a method of purification of these proteins. After the development of the manufacturing process the product will be tested in animals for pre-clinical safety and subsequently in humans for safety and efficacy.

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