On Wednesday, February 14, President Vladimir Putin declared that Russian scientists are close to developing cancer vaccinations that would soon be offered to patients.
In televised remarks, Putin stated:
“we have come very close to the creation of so-called cancer vaccines and immunomodulatory drugs of a new generation”. “I hope that soon they will be effectively used as methods of individual therapy,” he said at a future technology symposium in Moscow.
He did not, however, specify which cancers the suggested vaccinations would target or how they would be delivered.
A number of governments and firms are developing cancer vaccines. Last year, the UK government announced a deal with Germany-based BioNTech to conduct clinical trials for “personalized cancer treatments,” with the goal of reaching 10,000 patients by 2030.
Moderna and Merck & Co are creating an experimental cancer vaccine that, according to a mid-stage research, reduces the risk of recurrence or death from melanoma, the most dangerous skin cancer, by half after three years of therapy.
According to the World Health Organization, there are presently six approved vaccinations against human papillomaviruses (HPV), which cause a variety of malignancies including cervical cancer, as well as vaccines against hepatitis B (HBV), which can cause liver cancer.
