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Several major research centers are involved in the development of a personalized mRNA vaccine for melanoma therapy. The National Medical Research Center of Radiology is working on the drug together with the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology and the N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology.
"Neooncovac" is created individually for each patient depending on the molecular "profile" of their tumor. Its mechanism of action involves transmitting "instructions" (mRNA) to immune cells, which they use to produce peptides (short protein fragments). These protein fragments then "train" the immune system to destroy cancer cells. The vaccine is intended for patients with inoperable or metastatic melanoma, and can also be used to prevent relapses after surgical treatment.
Initially, patients with cutaneous melanoma will participate in clinical trials, and in the future it is planned to expand indications to non-small cell lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, and certain types of kidney cancer.
The second vaccine is being developed and manufactured by institutions of the Federal Medical-Biological Agency of Russia, with the main testing site being the Yu.M. Lopukhin Federal Research and Clinical Center of Physical-Chemical Medicine. The cancer vaccine "Oncopept" is also created individually and is aimed at destroying cancer cells with gene mutations. Unlike the mRNA vaccine, FMBA's peptide-based development already contains sets of ready-made peptides to activate the immune response against tumor cells.
In the near future, FMBA will also complete preclinical studies of the effectiveness of other anticancer drugs – against glioblastoma and melanoma.
In parallel, the National Medical Research Center of Radiology is testing another promising cancer vaccine – "Enteromix". Its mechanism is fundamentally different from the mRNA approach and is based on the use of safe enteroviruses that selectively destroy cancer cells. The viruses not only destroy the tumor from within, but also activate the patient's own antitumor immunity, which allows them to also attack metastatic foci. At least 48 volunteers are already participating in trials of this vaccine.
Source: TASS
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