Cancer Vaccines Expected Within Three Years, Says Russian Scientist. Most of the remaining obstacles seem to be regulatory, as noted by Vasily Lazarev of Russia’s Federal Medical-Biological Agency. Russian medical researchers may soon be able to introduce oncological vaccines within the next few years, provided they receive adequate funding and support from lawmakers, a senior official at the Federal Medical-Biological Agency (FMBA) suggested on Thursday.
These remarks follow President Vladimir Putin’s recent statement that the country was on the verge of developing vaccines against cancer.
“If financial support is provided, I believe that existing organizations could implement oncology vaccines within two or three years,” stated Vasily Lazarev, deputy director of the Lopukhin Federal Scientific and Clinical Center for Physical and Chemical Medicine, during an interview with the RTVI outlet.
Furthermore, Lazarev expressed optimism that domestic private investors would become interested in the technology once regulatory pressures ease.
While Lazarev did not mention any significant medical or technological challenges, he emphasized the legal obstacles confronting vaccine development.
“I cannot predict how quickly regulations will be developed; it may take up to a year to address all the regulatory issues,” he remarked. “We have the necessary tools and production facilities, so organizing [vaccine production] should not be difficult.”
Amendments proposed by the FMBA, which would permit the production and usage of “variable composition” medication, are slated to come into effect in September. However, these amendments stipulate that the drugs must be manufactured at the same institution that holds the patent.
“Establishing such production domestically will be quite costly, although feasible,” Lazarev acknowledged. “Most likely, these facilities will be regional centers or specialized oncological institutions.”
Currently, only a handful of facilities possess the capacity to meet the production requirements, such as the Blokhin Cancer Center or the FMBA’s Federal Center for Brain and Neurotechnology, both located in Moscow.
The concept of variable-composition neoantigens, which vaccine developers have been focusing on, does not neatly align with the existing Russian legal framework and could not be utilized in treatments until very recently.
Putin announced the development of cancer vaccines at the Future Technologies Forum in Moscow last month, citing them among the emerging medical technologies that he likened to science fiction.