Zydus Cadila set to launch HPV, anti-malaria vaccines

Company could be the first Indian firm to come up with cervical cancer vaccine

Ahmedabad based drug major Cadila Healthcare (popularly known as Zydus Cadila) is close to launching a vaccine for cervical cancer in women. The company is actively working on developing a vaccine for the human papilloma virus (HPV) which causes cervical cancer, besides also working on an anti-malaria and a pentavalent vaccine.

A senior official in the company informed that the vaccines are in the trial stage, which are expected to be complete by 2014, post which the company aims to launch them in the Indian market. "We have invested close to Rs  200 crore on research and development (R&D) to develop these vaccines, and another Rs  200 crore to set up a bio-tech facility at Moraiya near Ahmedabad, where these vaccines would be manufactured," he said on grounds of anonymity. It would be the first Indian company to launch a HPV vaccine in the country, the source claimed.

Cervical cancer is most common in Indian women, and every one out of four women who dies of cervical cancer in the world, is an Indian. This is even more common than breast cancer, experts say. It is caused by the human papilloma virus, and globally, HPV 16, 18, 45 and 31 are the most common cervical cancer HPV types.

MSD Pharmaceuticals, the Indian arm of Merck & Co, and the GlaxoSmithKline market two HPV vaccines under the brand name of Gardasil and Cervarix respectively.

According to a recent report by McKinsey & Company titled Transforming India's Vaccine Market, the market size for HPV vaccine in India could be between $170 million -$ 480 million (Rs  920 crore -- Rs  2596 crore) by 2020.  The report says that it expects "the vaccine market to reach $3.2-3.3 billion in 2020, growing at 30-35 per cent year-on-year from 2012 onwards...In all likelihood, there will be five mega vaccines of over $250 million each in size, constituting 60 per cent of the market, namely the anti-influenza, anti-typhoid, HPV, pneumococcal and Hepatitis A vaccines." It further adds that the expected situation is that market size for HPV vaccine to be around $170-180 million (around Rs  920 crore), and under optimistic scenario it can touch $470-480 million (Rs  2600 crore).  

The pentavalent vaccine is administered to infants and is supposed to provide protection against  Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Hepatitis B and Hib (Haemophilus influenza type b). Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus and Hepatitis B were already a part of the national routine immunisation programme, the Centre recently added Hib to the list. This combination together is called pentavalent.

Market size for pentavalent vaccine is expected to be around $130-140 million (around Rs  700 crore)  in India, while the demand for anti-malaria vaccine is estimated to be over $200 million (Rs  1082 crore) by 2020.

It can be mentioned here that Zydus Cadila holds the distinction of being the first Indian company to launch H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine in the country in May 2010. The vaccine is marketed under the name VaxiFlu-S.