Russia has developed an mRNA vaccine against cancer and will distribute it to patients for free, according to Andrey Kaprin, director general of the Russian Health Ministry’s Research Center for Radiology.
Mr. Kaprin explained that the decision would reduce the financial burden on cancer patients. The expert said that cancer drugs tend to be unreasonably expensive when they first appear.
He stressed that the new Russian vaccine is not intended to create treatment options for a privileged few but to democratize access to life-saving medicines.
The vaccine was developed in collaboration with several research centers. Russia expects to widely circulate the vaccine from early 2025.
Earlier, Gamaleya Alexander Gintsburg, Director of the National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, told TASS that preclinical trials showed that the new vaccine suppresses tumor growth (75-80%) and potential metastases.
The vaccine’s effectiveness was particularly evident against adenocarcinomas (cancers that originate in glandular cells of organs such as the colon, breast, esophagus, lung, pancreas or prostate).
“We will create personalized cancer vaccines using artificial intelligence,” Mr Gintsburg added, advocating for technological innovation to improve treatments.
Clinical trials will soon begin in people aged 18 to 75 with cancer to fully evaluate the vaccine’s efficacy and safety. Patients undergoing active chemotherapy are not included in the trial.
