Russia close to making cancer vaccine: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin Wednesday announced that Russian medical researchers are working on vaccines against cancer and a new generation of medication.

Addressing the Future Technologies Forum in Moscow, Putin highlighted significant advancements in Russian medical science, particularly in the early detection and treatment of cancer, resulting in increased survival rates, reports Russian media outlet RT.

“I will also add that we have come close to creating so-called onco-vaccines, vaccines against cancer, and immunomodulatory drugs of a new generation. And I hope that soon they will be effectively used as methods of individual therapy,” he said.

‘We have come very close to the creation of so-called cancer vaccines and immunomodulatory drugs of a new generation,” he said, adding, “I hope that soon they will be effectively used as methods of individual therapy.”

Putin, however, did not specify which types of cancer the proposed vaccines would target, nor how.

A number of countries and companies are working on cancer vaccines. Last year the UK government signed an agreement with Germany-based BioNTech to launch clinical trials providing “personalised cancer treatments”, aiming to reach 10,000 patients by 2030.

Pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Merck & Co are developing an experimental cancer vaccine that a mid-stage study showed cut the chance of recurrence or death from melanoma, the deadliest skin cancer, by half after three years of treatment.