World's first cervical cancer vaccine

Professor Ian Frazer

The world’s first cervical cancer vaccine has been developed at UQ’s Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine.

The Institute’s Director Professor Ian Frazer created the vaccine along with his late research partner Dr Jian Zhou.

The vaccine prevents four of dozens of strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV), which cause genital warts and cervical cancer. The prescription-only vaccine is distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Melbourne-based pharmaceutical manufacturer CSL and distributed worldwide by US drugmaker Merck & Co.

The Federal Government has placed the cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil®, on the National Immunisation Programme to be delivered to 12–13-year-old girls through schools.  As at August 2007, 10 million vaccinations had been administered in 80 countries.

Professor Frazer was named 2006 Australian of the Year for his team’s work on the vaccine. He said it was extremely exciting after 15 years to see the product finally available.

 “It’s the first time in the world that a vaccine designed to prevent cancer has been developed and it has happened right here in Australia,” Professor Frazer said.

Cervical cancer kills about 270,000 women worldwide each year. The vaccine is expected to become one of the first Australian pharmaceutical successes to result in a fair share of economic flow back into Australia.

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