Thailand push for HPV vaccine copy-drug

The Thailand Center of Excellence for Life Sciences is planning to encourage local researchers to develop a generic human papillomavirus vaccine, the Bangkok Post reports. The Center's president, Pornchai Matangkasombut, speaking at the BioAsia 2008 Thailand conference, called on the Thai Red Cross and the Government Pharmaceutical Organization, along with other non-governmental organizations to participate in the effort. Dr Pornchai made the announcement after a meeting with 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine winner Harald zur Hausen, the German scientist who pioneered the genetic research that made an HPV vaccine possible.

Cervical cancer claims the life of one woman every four hours in Thailand, according to the TCELS, with rates of the disease considerably higher in a tropical climate than in temperate zones. Dr zur Hausen warned that developing a local vaccine would not be straighforward. He said: "it's not easy to make the vaccine. India and China have been working on it for at least two years and have made a lot of progress."