Russian mRNA vaccines against oncological diseases

Several research centers have reported on the successful completion of the preclinical phase of cancer vaccine trials. The start of drug use in patients is scheduled for 2025.

The development of individual cancer vaccines belongs to the teams of scientists from the Gamaleya Center, the P.A. Herzen Moscow Scientific Research Institute of Oncology and the N.N. Blokhin National Research Medical Center of Oncology. It is a drug created individually for each patient based on mRNA technology.

The principle of creating individual cancer vaccines is that mRNA is created individually based on the information about the patient's tumor composition and then it forces the body to cope with cancer.

Scientists from the Gamaleya Center plan to involve artificial intelligence in the creation of the cancer vaccine. It will analyze the parameters of the tumor and prepare a "mock-up" of the drug. Currently, the procedure for creating a "mock-up" takes about a month, but scientists plan to reduce time costs.

The Government will allocate about 600 million rubles for the development of equipment for the production of innovative mRNA-based medicines. The subsidy will be allocated to the Gamaleya Center. These funds will be used to purchase at least 41 pieces of equipment.

Cancer vaccines developed by Russian scientists have shown their effectiveness in studies on mice with vaccinated melanoma. On day 15, scientists saw a big difference between vaccinated and unvaccinated animals. Between days 19 and 22, the unvaccinated mice died, but the vaccinated ones were all alive. Scientists observed the resorption of both the tumor itself and the metastasis.

It is planned that the first volunteers to receive the new cancer vaccine in clinical trials will probably be patients with melanoma and small cell lung cancer. In the future, cancer vaccines may help patients with pancreatic cancer, as well as certain types of kidney cancer.

Scientists are also working abroad to create personalized vaccines for the treatment of cancer. In early 2024, Moderna, together with MSD, published interim results of phase IIb clinical trials, according to which the mRNA-4157 (V940) cancer vaccine in combination with Kitruda® showed its effectiveness in patients with skin cancer compared with Kitruda® monotherapy.

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