Cervical cancer vaccine pioneer wins leadership prize

By Helen Schuller
Thursday, 11 August, 2005

Prof Ian Frazer, whose research on a vaccine for a leading cause of cervical cancer is being developed by CSL and Merck & Co, has won the inaugural 2005 CSIRO Eureka Prize for Leadership in Science.

The AUD$10,000 prize was presented at the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes awards dinner in Sydney to Frazer and his team at Queensland's Centre for Immunology and Cancer Research.

Frazer's team has developed two types of vaccine designed to prevent and treat existing infections by the human papilloma virus (HPV), the virus primarily responsible for triggering cervical cancer.

Following three successful international clinical trials the team's preventative vaccine is expected to be on the market later in 2006. The vaccine for existing HPV infections is also currently being trialled by CSL and Merck. Clinical trials for a second therapeutic vaccine will start shortly with 240 women in Brisbane and 240 women in China.

"Winning is obliviously good for me and the research team," Frazer said. "This award also shows what you can achieve in Australia -- it's a world first, a vaccine against cancer.

"One quarter of a million women die from cervical cancer each year. If it were any other disease we would be demanding a vaccine."

Frazer began his research about 15 years ago, and CSL has cooperated with him since 1989 to oversee the development of the vaccine. In 1995, CSL signed a license agreement with Merck & Co, which gave the US firm worldwide exclusive commercial rights in return for royalties and milestone payments to CSL. CSL retained the exclusive rights to market and sell the vaccine in Australia. Earlier this year, a cross-license and settlement agreement for certain patent rights related HPV was signed between Merck, GlaxoSmithKline and CSL.

The World Health Organisation has said that HPV is the second biggest cause of cancer mortality worldwide, and it is especially devastating in developing countries where its victims are often women in their childbearing years.