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news.Merck & Co and the Indian Council of Medical Research are to collaborate to study the drug company's investigational cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil, in developing populations in India.
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The collaborators are to design a study to assess the use of Gardasil in India. Upon completion of the study, the partners will work together to assess the role of the vaccine in the population of India and to identify ways of providing access to the drug.
“The rate of cervical cancer in India is extremely high,” said Professor N K Ganguly of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). “Through this partnership with Merck, we hope to determine the role vaccination may play in reducing the burden of cervical cancer in India.”
About 510,000 cases of cervical cancer are reported each year with nearly 80% occurring in developing countries. Cervical cancer is the most common form of cancer in India, with more than 130,000 new cases reported each year and 74,000 women dying annually from the disease, according to the World Health Organization.