If approved, an HPV vaccine currently in the final stages of clinical testing should be available in China within two years, said the developer on Thursday.
Work on the vaccine began in 2002 and clinical tests began in 2011. The research is led by the National Institute of Diagnostics and Vaccine Development in Infectious Diseases, based in Xiamen University in southeast China's Fujian Province.
It is the third human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine to reach the clinical test stage, following those developed by Merck and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).
The GSK vaccine was approved by the China Food and Drug Administration on Monday. Under the commercial name of Cervarix, it is the first HPV vaccine licensed for use in China.
The World Health Organization recommends use of HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, which kills about 30,000 women in China each year. Around 130,000 new cervical cancer cases emerge in China annually, accounting for 28 percent of the world total.
During the third phase of clinical tests which started in 2012, more than 7,000 volunteers were vaccinated, according to leader of the vaccine program, Zhang Jun of Xiamen University.
"The data that we collected has proved the vaccine effective in preventing infection," he said.
Zhang pointed out that the difference between his team's vaccine and the GSK product lies in the effective antigen source.
"GSK uses insect cells as the effective antigen, while our vaccine uses coliform bacteria," he said.
Zhang claimed his vaccine to be more cost-effective than its competitor, giving it an edge in the market, if approved.
The team has obtained 18 patents for the vaccine in China and abroad.
