Russia's President Vladimir Putin announced on Wednesday that Russian scientists are on the verge of developing vaccines for cancer, which could soon be available to patients.
Russian President Vladimir Putin Says Cancer Vaccines in Russia Close to Creation
According to Reuters, Vladimir Putin announced it in a tech forum in Moscow as he expressed optimism about the advancements in cancer treatment.
"We have come very close to the creation of so-called cancer vaccines and immunomodulatory drugs of a new generation," Putin said in televised remarks.
"I hope that soon they will be effectively used as methods of individual therapy," he added. However, the Russian president did not provide info on which types of cancer the proposed vaccines would target or how.
Cancer Vaccines in the UK and US
Many countries and pharmaceutical companies are actively working on cancer vaccine research. For instance, the UK government partnered with Germany-based BioNTech last year to launch clinical trials to provide personalized cancer treatments, targeting to reach up to 10,000 patients by 2030.
On the other hand, pharmaceutical giants Moderna and Merck & Co. have been developing an experimental vaccine for the most deadly skin cancer. A mid-stage study showed it lessens the chance of melanoma recurrence or death by half after three years of treatment.
According to the World Health Organization, there are already six licensed vaccines against human papillomaviruses (HPV), which cause many cancers, including cervical cancer, and vaccines against hepatitis B (HBV), a serious liver infection that can lead to liver cancer.
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