Hey everyone, exciting news in the world of health and tech! China has just given the green light to its first domestically developed nine-valent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, Cecolin 9. This move is a major leap forward in the fight against cervical cancer. 🚀
The vaccine is the result of a cool collaboration between Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, Xiamen University, and Wantai BioPharm. Since 2019, Cecolin 9 has undergone rigorous testing in five clinical trials with over 11,000 healthy volunteers aged 9 to 45 across China.
What makes this vaccine stand out? Not only does it offer strong protection against HPV types 16 and 18 (well-known culprits behind many cervical cancers), it also covers five extra types: 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58. The trials showed a protection rate of over 98% against infections lasting more than 12 months and a perfect 100% rate in preventing cervical infections!
Another win: for girls aged 9 to 17, just two doses are enough to build a robust immune response—making it the only two-dose HPV vaccine available for girls aged 15 to 17 in China. This is a huge deal, especially when compared to the three doses typically required for young women aged 18 to 26.
Published findings in The Lancet Infectious Diseases confirm that the immune response from Cecolin 9 is comparable with top international products for at least 30 months after full immunization. This breakthrough follows the earlier success of China’s first domestically made two-valent HPV vaccine, which received WHO prequalification in 2021 and is now in use in 21 countries.
Given that cervical cancer ranked as the fourth most common cancer among women worldwide in 2022, and with free HPV vaccination now reaching around 40% of girls aged 13 to 14 in 2024, Cecolin 9 is set to be a game changer in public health. Stay tuned for more updates on the latest trends in technology, lifestyle, and health!
Reference(s):
China approves first domestically produced nine-valent HPV vaccine
cgtn.com
