Russians could get free personalized cancer vaccines

Novel treatments approved last year are designed to beat advanced colon and skin tumors

Personalized cancer vaccines could soon become available free of charge in Russia under the national health insurance system, according to a draft government decree.

The medicines, developed by state-funded laboratories and research institutes, were approved by the Russian Health Ministry last year. One of the vaccines, Oncopept, is a peptide-based treatment designed to target aggressive colorectal tumors, while Neooncovac uses mRNA technology – which deploys special information-carrying molecules to stimulate immune response – to treat advanced melanoma.

Both drugs are included in a list of advanced therapies that Russia’s national health insurance system could soon cover, according to the draft decree published on the regulations website on Wednesday. The list also includes CAR-T therapy, an advanced treatment in which doctors take a patient’s immune cells, genetically reprogram them in a lab to fight cancer, and infuse them back into the body.

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Previous official statements suggest the initial rollout will be relatively small-scale. Veronika Skvortsova, head of the Federal Medical-Biological Agency, said last month that roughly 400 patients – including some from abroad – had applied to receive the colorectal cancer vaccine.

According to Aleksandr Ginzburg, director of the Gamaleya Center which helped develop Neooncovac, preclinical tests in animals showed tumors disappearing in many cases and metastases responding in about 90% of tests. He said early-stage use in patients began this year.

Russian officials say biotechnology has the potential to become a major economic driver, similar to the role information technology played in the 20th century. Senior officials, including President Vladimir Putin, expect leaders in the field to see their citizens live longer, more productive lives thanks to better preventative treatments, accurate early diagnostics, efficient drugs, comfortable implantable medical devices, and seamless prosthetics that could potentially surpass natural organs.