The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin disclosed on Wednesday that Russian scientists were close to creating vaccines for cancer which would soon be available for patients. He made this known during a Moscow Forum on Future Technologies, where he said, “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.”
Putin did not however specify, how or which types of cancer the proposed vaccines would target.
Several countries and companies have being working on cancer vaccines including Germany-based BioNTech, which is planning to launch clinical trials for personalized cancer treatments.
Similarly, the pharmaceutical companies, Moderna and Merck & Co are currently developing an experimental cancer vaccine designed to reduce the chance of recurrence or death from melanoma; the most deadly skin cancer.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are presently 6 licensed vaccines against Human Papillomaviruses (HPV) which causes many cancers, including cervical cancer, as well as vaccines against hepatitis B virus (HBV), which can result in liver cancer.
More details later.
