Ian Frazer named Australian of the Year

Prof Ian Frazer, inventor of the world's first cancer vaccine, Gardasil, has been named Australian of the Year.

Frazer, who is based at the University of Queensland, has said he will use the award's profile to work to make sure his vaccine reaches those who need it most -- women and girls living in poverty.

Gardasil is a vaccine to prevent human papilloma virus (HPV) infection, the leading cause of cervical cancer. It s being developed by CSL (ASX:CSL) and drug giant Merck & Co, and is expected to be launched mid-year.

Frazer said women living in poverty in the developing world, where Pap smears were not widely available, accounted for most of the 275,000 deaths from cervical cancer each year. "Women in China, birthplace of [Gardasil co-inventor, the late Dr Jian Zhou], will be some of the greatest beneficiaries of the vaccine," Frazer said. "I feel I have a responsibility to ensure that they and other women in developing countries have affordable access to the vaccine that he helped develop."

Frazer is working with the Gates Foundation and the WHO with the aim of delivering the drug as cheaply as possible in the developing world. Recently, he told Australian Biotechnology News he was now working on a therapeutic for woman who already had HPV.

Frazer's Australia Day honour follows in the footsteps of other eminent scientists: Prof Peter Doherty, Sir Gus Nossal and Prof Fiona Wood.